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A review by bittycity
The Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker
1.0
(!!!TRIGGER WARNING!!!)
(My review talks about things that happen in the book, even if they are not explicitly mentioned or described. These include r*pe, child abuse, both mental and physical, and PTSD, including mention of an attack.)
I didn't really enjoy this book. The writing itself is fine, good, even, but the main character is r*ped (it happens off-screen and is never labelled as such, but the protagonist is forced to have sex with the King, a man whose advances she is unable to turn down or say "No." to.) She is also mentally and physically abused, and as she is only 15, it's arguably child abuse at that (again, mostly off-screen), and suffers from PTSD, including an "on-screen" attack.
So how does the author choose to deal with all of these traumatic experiences and mental health issues that she's forced upon her protagonist? Spoiler alert! She doesn't. At all. Ever. Not even a little bit. Even after the protagonist suffers from a serious PTSD episode, she wakes up just fine and continues on as if nothing happened, and the episode is never discussed or brought up again. As someone who has suffered PTSD episodes myself, THAT'S NOT HOW THINGS WORK! It's such a slap in the face to people who actually struggle with trauma. This was obviously just a plot device used to move the story along and that is some lazy writing BS right there.
Long story short, The Witch Hunter takes a bunch of serious issues, including r*pe, child abuse and PTSD, and uses them as window dressing to give the illusion of a gritty reality to what is otherwise a teen romance. The end result is a vapid, disappointing flop, especially as those same "window dressings" are only ever brought up to move the plot along, so the issues are never addressed and thus we readers are left with no emotional payout.
Save yourself the time and don't read this book. I won't be bothering with the sequels.
(My review talks about things that happen in the book, even if they are not explicitly mentioned or described. These include r*pe, child abuse, both mental and physical, and PTSD, including mention of an attack.)
I didn't really enjoy this book. The writing itself is fine, good, even, but the main character is r*ped (it happens off-screen and is never labelled as such, but the protagonist is forced to have sex with the King, a man whose advances she is unable to turn down or say "No." to.) She is also mentally and physically abused, and as she is only 15, it's arguably child abuse at that (again, mostly off-screen), and suffers from PTSD, including an "on-screen" attack.
So how does the author choose to deal with all of these traumatic experiences and mental health issues that she's forced upon her protagonist? Spoiler alert! She doesn't. At all. Ever. Not even a little bit. Even after the protagonist suffers from a serious PTSD episode, she wakes up just fine and continues on as if nothing happened, and the episode is never discussed or brought up again. As someone who has suffered PTSD episodes myself, THAT'S NOT HOW THINGS WORK! It's such a slap in the face to people who actually struggle with trauma. This was obviously just a plot device used to move the story along and that is some lazy writing BS right there.
Long story short, The Witch Hunter takes a bunch of serious issues, including r*pe, child abuse and PTSD, and uses them as window dressing to give the illusion of a gritty reality to what is otherwise a teen romance. The end result is a vapid, disappointing flop, especially as those same "window dressings" are only ever brought up to move the plot along, so the issues are never addressed and thus we readers are left with no emotional payout.
Save yourself the time and don't read this book. I won't be bothering with the sequels.