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I am so tired of stories of female resilience or empowerment being centered around misogyny and abuse, which I suppose isn't entirely this book's fault, but for a book published in 2023, Weyward feels remarkably stale. In some ways, it's almost like a retread of Practical Magic…but much less fun.

Maybe I should have anticipated the content in this based on the synopsis, but I really did not expect the endless amount of abuse featured here. Every single storyline in this involves physical, sexual, and psychological abuse of women at the hands of men. On top of that, the three women featured are fairly isolated and have very little support, and most of the male characters are vile and controlling abusers with no nuance. The suspense around the climax of this novel is built upon the question of women's safety at the hands of their abusers, which is just something I did not enjoy.

It seems like Weyward was maybe trying to fit in amongst the canon of female rage or revenge stories, but there's just something that's missing. This doesn't provide the catharsis that I want from a female revenge story, as there's too much time spent on women being brutalized. The justice is fleeting and the solution to being unsafe is being alone.

Something that is not mentioned at all in the synopsis is the focus this novel puts on pregnancy. Every storyline revolves around pregnancy. If I had known that, I probably would have not picked this up. This may be a plot point that really connects with some readers, but I am just not interested in reading a book that is so devoted to examining pregnancy. It felt like womanhood was inherently tied to the ability and desire to have a children (and not just children but specifically daughters who will then go on to have more daughters), and I just have a lot of complicated feelings about that. I wish the synopsis of the book had mentioned this, instead of pregnancy being a surprise twist in every timeline.

However, the thing that really sealed the deal on this being an unenjoyable reading experience is that it's just straight up boring. Even though I didn't love reading about all the harrowing things happening to these female characters, it didn't really affect me much emotionally because the writing just isn't strong enough. The characters are pretty flat and lacking in distinct personality. There aren't any worthwhile relationships to grasp onto, and the setting is never described in a way that is particularly enticing. It's all just aggressively mediocre.