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Reviews tagging 'Death'
Hag: Forgotten Folktales Retold by Imogen Hermes Gowar, Naomi Booth, Emma Glass, Irenosen Okojie, Daisy Johnson, Natasha Carthew, Eimear McBride, Liv Little, Mahsuda Snaith, Kirsty Logan
6 reviews
kalldaff's review
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
A great mix of feminist literature and folktale retellings. Imaginative, exploratory, and unique.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Gore, and Miscarriage
madi_oasis's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
way more wlw theming in this book. Other than 1-2 stories that were personally hard to read, this was a standout collection of stories. The original tales added at the end was a nice touch!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Death
Moderate: Body horror and Blood
savvylit's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? N/A
5.0
Boggarts, fairies, selkies, pixies, shapeshifters, unsettling siblings.... Each of these fairytale motifs combine into the flawless piece of art that is Hag. The stories are lush, magical, creepy, and succinct. The all-female cast of protagonists is both loveable and believable -- despite their magical circumstances.
Prior to reading Hag, I had only been familiar with the work of one of the authors, Daisy Johnson. After falling in love with the rest, I immediately added all of the authors' works to my list of books to be read. The authors of Hag are wildly talented. If I found just one of their short stories impactful, then I can't imagine how much I'll enjoy the rest of their work.
I'd wholeheartedly recommend this collection if, like me, you're a fan of gothic tales that ooze magical realism and include feminist themes and multidimensional queer characters.
Prior to reading Hag, I had only been familiar with the work of one of the authors, Daisy Johnson. After falling in love with the rest, I immediately added all of the authors' works to my list of books to be read. The authors of Hag are wildly talented. If I found just one of their short stories impactful, then I can't imagine how much I'll enjoy the rest of their work.
I'd wholeheartedly recommend this collection if, like me, you're a fan of gothic tales that ooze magical realism and include feminist themes and multidimensional queer characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Violence, and Toxic relationship
nicnevin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
A wonderful collection of reimagined folk tales I had never heard of before.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia
lennie_reads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Infertility, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, and Sexism
whatellisreadnext's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
๐๐ฆ'๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ซ๐ข๐ธ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ช๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ.
Hag is a bunch of English Folktale retellings from a selection of authors. It's been such a long time since I read a short story collection, especially one featuring different writers, but this was just what the doctor ordered. I've been feeling a bit bogged down with my reading lately and it was so nice to dip in and out of this one, just to read a story or two at a time.
I definitely don't know enough about English Folklore, so I had a lot of fun delving into these weird and unnerving stories. The majority of these are super dark, so definitely perfect reading for this time of year. I loved how diverse all the stories were, featuring queer protagonists and women of colour.
Some of the stories I loved and others I felt tried a bit too hard. My two favourites were Between Sea and Sky by Kirsty Logan and The Dampness is Spreading by Emma Glass. I've already been looking into their other books and hoping to buy some very soon (when I'm no longer on a book buying ban๐๐ปโโ๏ธ)
I find it really hard to rate short story collections, especially when they feature different authors so here are all the stories and how I felt about them:
A Retelling 2โญ
Sour Hall 4โญ
Rosheen 4โญ
Between Sea and Sky 5โญ
The Panther's Tale 4โญ
The Tale of Kathleen 2โญ
The Sisters 4โญ
The Dampness is Spreading 5โญ
The Drill of the Mermaid 4โญ
The Holloway 4โญ
Overall, it was a great collection of stories and if you love retellings, I highly recommend you grab yourself a copy. I mean this amazing cover was enough to sell me on it. Thanks so much to Virago Press for the gifted copy๐งก
Hag is a bunch of English Folktale retellings from a selection of authors. It's been such a long time since I read a short story collection, especially one featuring different writers, but this was just what the doctor ordered. I've been feeling a bit bogged down with my reading lately and it was so nice to dip in and out of this one, just to read a story or two at a time.
I definitely don't know enough about English Folklore, so I had a lot of fun delving into these weird and unnerving stories. The majority of these are super dark, so definitely perfect reading for this time of year. I loved how diverse all the stories were, featuring queer protagonists and women of colour.
Some of the stories I loved and others I felt tried a bit too hard. My two favourites were Between Sea and Sky by Kirsty Logan and The Dampness is Spreading by Emma Glass. I've already been looking into their other books and hoping to buy some very soon (when I'm no longer on a book buying ban๐๐ปโโ๏ธ)
I find it really hard to rate short story collections, especially when they feature different authors so here are all the stories and how I felt about them:
A Retelling 2โญ
Sour Hall 4โญ
Rosheen 4โญ
Between Sea and Sky 5โญ
The Panther's Tale 4โญ
The Tale of Kathleen 2โญ
The Sisters 4โญ
The Dampness is Spreading 5โญ
The Drill of the Mermaid 4โญ
The Holloway 4โญ
Overall, it was a great collection of stories and if you love retellings, I highly recommend you grab yourself a copy. I mean this amazing cover was enough to sell me on it. Thanks so much to Virago Press for the gifted copy๐งก
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infertility, Medical content, Miscarriage, and Terminal illness
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