Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

Improbable Magic for Cynical Witches by Kate Scelsa

27 reviews

j_nell's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative lighthearted reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Protagonist was very whiny and very difficult to tolerate. Otherwise the plot was super cute and reasonable. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, Alcohol, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, and Biphobia

isnt_it_pretty's review against another edition

inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Toxic relationship, Drug use, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Outing, Lesbophobia, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Biphobia, and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying and Sexual assault

portalpylon's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Drug use

Minor: Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual assault

myranda_the_bookwyrm's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I found this rather compellingly told, with the structure of the tarot guide book used as you move through the arc, and with good depth for a YA romance/social fiction. If you are looking for a fantasy-romance or even romance-fantasy/paranormal, I wouldn't exactly put this in those categories. While the characters practice witchcraft, we aren't called upon as readers to believe it exists in this world (or ours) if that makes sense. There are some of the usual foibles of miscommunication that are standard for the romance genre, and I can see where there's room for improvement on the author handled Eleanor's response to heartbreak that could be interpreted as leaning into harmful stereotypes, but overall I also feel like that is countered by the first person narration, where readers also are reminded that how Eleanor sees and interprets other people's responses to her is heavily coloured by her own insecurities. Honestly, I was expecting a cutesy little fantasy romance for teens and instead got a YA romance with some surprising depth that cut me just right. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Stalking, Lesbophobia, Drug use, Biphobia, and Sexual assault

ari_bryce's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Bullying, Lesbophobia, Biphobia, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship

caitlyn_drago_1226's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Homophobia, Grief, Lesbophobia, Stalking, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Sexual assault, Blood, and Addiction

julialudovici's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Drug use, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual assault, Stalking, and Chronic illness

therainbowshelf's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The author combines chapters from Eleanor's present, past, and explanatory tarot book to tell the story of a teen who lost her confidence in love and life and show how she gets it back. The switches between past and present were a little confusing on the audio, but otherwise I liked this book. The characters are fun and the story engaging throughout. Content warnings for toxic relationship, bi erasure, and chronically ill parent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Toxic relationship, Biphobia, Alcohol, Grief, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, and Stalking

Minor: Vomit

Bi erasure

leorahart's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I know that queer books often address the realities of being queer in the world like homophobia, etc. but I feel like the homophobia, slurs, and sexual assault in this book weren’t necessary in a lot of ways. It’s partially on me for expecting a cute sapphic witch romance. I didn’t feel like we got to know Pix very well and when we did learn about her it wasn’t very compelling to make her a lovable or even complicated love interest. Which maybe wasn’t the point - but I feel like you can go for stability as a character trait without making her boring. I really liked learning about what had happened with Claire(?) and wanting to know what happened the previous October is what kept me reading. Overall, I wanted to love this book and it just fell short of what I’d hoped it would be.

Eta: also the stalking was majorly upsetting for me like Elinor what the fuck

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use

Moderate: Stalking, Chronic illness, and Homophobia

Minor: Sexual assault

maresuju's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Sexual violence, and Stalking

Minor: Biphobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Chronic illness