Scan barcode
caseythereader's reviews
1744 reviews
3.75
- THE WITCH’S DAUGHTER falls into the memoir category of Messed Up Childhoods, and if you gravitate toward that kind of memoir, you should definitely pick this one up.
- The narration flips between past an present, the context for and understanding of Orenda’s mother’s borderline personality disorder becoming clearer for both Orenda and the reader as the book advances.
- Fink is so empathetic toward all her family members, and illustrates precisely why it’s so hard to disentangle oneself from a situation like this.
- Additionally, Fink was a member of the band Azure Ray, so there’s some really delicious name dropping if you were a fan of Saddle Creek Records bands at their peak.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Ableism and Sexual assault
Minor: Gun violence
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Suicide
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
- After loving I’D RATHER BURN THAN BLOOM and now EIGHTEEN ROSES, I’ll offically read anything Shannon C.F. Rogers writes.
- Lucia is a hater of the first degree, and I loved her, spiky edges and all.
- Rogers blends together the broad injustices of being a teenager with the specific struggles of being Filipina-American and of fighting to make ends meet.
- There are so many plot threads in this book that I worried about it going off the rails, but Rogers brings them all together perfectly at the end. Best of all, Lucia grows and learns without losing the essence of herself.
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Cursing and Colonisation
Minor: Cancer
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
- I have mixed feelings about TANGLEROOT. I was on board for the story and setting, for Noni, and for the mystery of her family history as it unraveled. However, the execution of it fell short for me.
- The big thing I couldn’t get past was Noni’s mother. She was intensely controlling and it was swept away at the end, with Noni coming to the conclusion that her mother knew best. I’m sorry, but in what world is it fine to find out that your daughter made one insensitive comment to a coworker so you decide she can no longer attend the four year college she plans to in the fall and you instead enroll her in the local community college and sign her up for a slate of courses she isn’t interested in at all??? There are several other actions the mother takes that horrified me, and they simply weren’t addressed.
- Whew okay, aside from that, I appreciated that this is a YA novel that explored aspects of slavery that aren’t usually touched in books for this age group.
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Racism, Slavery, Grief, Murder, and Classism
Minor: Rape
Did not finish book. Stopped at 12%.
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
ALSO
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Sexism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Sexual content and Car accident
Did not finish book. Stopped at 32%.