Thalia’s review of The First Witch of Boston > Likes and Comments
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Ugh, thanks for the heads up, definitely not up my alley.
I don't like book porn either, so thank you for letting us readers who don't enjoy that know. You are correct that there is no indication that this book contains sex scenes or rape. I hope you find reading joy in your next book, Thalia. 🤗💕
Thank you very much for writing this review! This is why I read reviews, to protect myself from being unexpectedly exposed to content like you described! This looks like an interesting historical fiction about something I know little about, and it gets great reviews (frankly that is usually my first clue that it's full of explicit language or content!), and it's free. But I will definitely pass on this one after reading your warnings, so thank you again.
I appreciate this review so much! It is really disappointing because I was looking forward to this one but I'm grateful that you shared about the content. I will pass on it.
Thank you. Almost bought this book but your warning saved me
I don't have a problem with sex scenes, but I definitely don't like it when there are explicit rape scenes I'm for which I'm unprepared. Thank you so much for the warning.
I totally agree. I was really excited to read about witch trials and the actual trial didn’t even happen until the end 😭
I was expecting a totally different story, I also would never had read this if I knew it was 99% sex. Yea it was well written but that isn’t what I signed up for!
Thank you, very helpful review. I’ll skip this one.
Thanks for the heads up! I won’t read this one.
I agree. I gave up on this one after reading too many sex scenes.
thank you for this review. this helped made my decision to skip a lot easier.
The sex scenes wouldn't bother me, but the rape scenes certainly would, even more so if I have no warning, so thanks for that.
Thank you for coming back to reviewing for this one! Saved me a read!
Jen wrote: "Thank you for coming back to reviewing for this one! Saved me a read!"
So glad to help! These comments have made me so happy. It's so easy to feel very alone in these opinions these days, and I am grateful to all who commented to remind me that we truly aren't alone. <3
Thank you. I wish there were more reviewers who wrote such reviews. I came to GR wondering if I should request this book...now I know to pass. I appreciate your honesty.
Thank you for this review. I’m going to start following you so please keep writing reviews. You seem to have the perspective about books and explicit content that I do. We need you.
I wish I’d read your review before ordering it. Ah well. Off to the second hand it will go.
So tired of reading rape scenes so I appreciate your warning. Thank you. I’ve grown more sensitive as I’ve aged and it’s just enough is enough for me personally. If I can avoid it I will.
I read it in one sitting because I skipped over the “.rape and sex scenes”. So about 1/4 of the book. Should have come with warnings for sure. Enjoyed the rest of the book.
sorry, but I did not feel like the sex scenes were as explicit as this reviewer claims, although there should always be a warning about them in reviews.
27 pages in and I’m about to DNF it for this very reason. I love historical fiction but what I’ve read so far is not at all what I expected, and is disappointing. I have no problem with sexual content but I wanted a story about the witch hunt, not heaving bosoms and hands roaming. 🙄
Gail wrote: "sorry, but I did not feel like the sex scenes were as explicit as this reviewer claims, although there should always be a warning about them in reviews."
You are more than welcome to feel that way, but I don't have any desire to read pornographic content in my books. My review is only useful to those who have similar content preferences to me, and anyone else is welcome to not care what I think.
Whole heartedly agree. This could have been a 5 star read if not for the explicit sex. Really ruined it for me.
Wish I had seen your review before I read it. My thoughts exactly. You nailed the exact reason I disliked this book. It was not historical fiction.
the sexual content in this book was really not that bad. try reading a Colleen Hoover book and then tell me about pornographic content!
I don’t mind sex scenes and the ones in this book weren’t explicit by any standards but they certainly felt out of place in the novel, they didn’t add anything and at points even detracted from the main story line - fade to black would have worked perfectly well if the author still wanted to be suggestive at what was going on. I also thought the rape scenes being alluded to would have sufficed and certainly didn’t need a play by play of those.
Thanks for the review. Personally I don't mind a bit of sex in my books BUT, I do wish they'd Mark books as EXPLICIT the same way they do music. I'd like to know ahead of time so I could decide BEFORE I spent my money or dove into reading. The way they label music let's me choose when and what I want to hear, and I wish it was similar in the book publishing world.
Thank you for this review and I'm glad I saw it. I find books with sex scenes to simply be lazy writing and filler. I had downloaded it as an Amazon Prime First reads too, but I'll pass on this book and just deleted it.
Thank you for taking the time to give your review and content warnings. I am personally grateful as I would have been interested in this topic but will skip because of your info.
Definitely not explicit sex scenes and definitely not porn. If you think it is, then there's a whole world of books you'd be shocked by. I think this is damaging to the author to claim it.
Thank you for your review. I have no desire to read explicit scenes in books, especially rape scenes. It's upsetting and not necessary. I really appreciate your review!
Because of your review, I’m skipping this one. Thank you for returning to reviews! :-)
For perspective - the sex scenes were used to paint her as a woman who did not fit Puritan standards and as such, another reason that the community did not accept her and was so quick to condemn her.
This review is inaccurate and damaging to the book and author. There are no explicit scenes in this book. Yes, there are mentions of sex and rape, but not a single explicit scene. If you avoid this book based on this review, you are missing out.
There are no explicit sex scenes and the description of rape is because the CHARACTER WAS RAPED. My god, difficult for me to believe adults have gotten this far without basic critical thinking skills.
I’m glad to know this. I find sex scenes a boring add unless directly related and integral to the plot. More and more books have become unnecessarily explicit - especially witchcraft. It leaves me passing on witchcraft books more than I want to.
I’m glad to know this. I find sex scenes a boring add unless directly related and integral to the plot. More and more books have become unnecessarily explicit - especially witchcraft. It leaves me passing on witchcraft books more than I want to.
Thank you!!! I definitely don’t wanna read about that!!!
Thanks for this review. My own was from more of a true crime/real person perspective and historical accuracy when it came to my criticism of, well the rape scenes in particular. Mostly due to the fact that Margaret Jones and Thomas jones (he was roofied and raped) were real people yet they were raped by fictional characters…and there was no reason for it because it didn’t move the story along. So actually there were 4 rapes in this book 2 to Margaret by fictional men (again why and why when she was a minor? Since it did say that it happened when she “first bled”) that one attempt though he couldn’t preform. Then the roofie and rape of Thomas Jones by the widow (who never existed in history/the trial/any records) for me looking at it from a true crime perspective it’s the author slapping the face of living breathing people and one of whom was hanged by the neck and killed. Margaret Jones wasn’t a fictional character, she was real (as was her husband) and she had been murdered (I think with some of it people tend to forget that real people were involved in this)
Jessica, thanks for your review. I’m not interested in explicit sex & rape scenes, either.
Never commented on a review before but thank you!! I was very excited for this book but you have saved me a lot of time and frustration.
A puritan wrote this review. You really thought you died something with this post, didn't you?
I'm approaching the end of the book and this review is like so many GR reviews, the reader refuses to do any work and gripes loudly.
People bang; therefore, people in literature bang. Get over it. You can skim, skip, or fast-forward. Perhaps charge the author with being a strumpet? There's always YA if you can't handle it.
Interesting that rape bothers people in a book, yet it's fine irl. It should be the other way around. Ffs
Thank you for this review! I’m not interested in reading rape scenes. I’m disappointed I chose this as my First Reads book because it sounded like an interesting historical novel, but I’m glad I didn’t pay for this. What if a child had picked this up?
As a previous commenter mentioned, I wish they could mark it or include spice level so people could make informed choices. But alas, this will be back burnered.
Thank you for saving me time on reading this book. I really wish books came with content warnings like films do so people can avoid certain content. Three rape scenes sounds horrific and people should be warned well in advance.
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Aug 18, 2025 05:39PM
Ugh, thanks for the heads up, definitely not up my alley.
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I don't like book porn either, so thank you for letting us readers who don't enjoy that know. You are correct that there is no indication that this book contains sex scenes or rape. I hope you find reading joy in your next book, Thalia. 🤗💕
Thank you very much for writing this review! This is why I read reviews, to protect myself from being unexpectedly exposed to content like you described! This looks like an interesting historical fiction about something I know little about, and it gets great reviews (frankly that is usually my first clue that it's full of explicit language or content!), and it's free. But I will definitely pass on this one after reading your warnings, so thank you again.
I appreciate this review so much! It is really disappointing because I was looking forward to this one but I'm grateful that you shared about the content. I will pass on it.
Thank you. Almost bought this book but your warning saved me
I don't have a problem with sex scenes, but I definitely don't like it when there are explicit rape scenes I'm for which I'm unprepared. Thank you so much for the warning.
I totally agree. I was really excited to read about witch trials and the actual trial didn’t even happen until the end 😭 I was expecting a totally different story, I also would never had read this if I knew it was 99% sex. Yea it was well written but that isn’t what I signed up for!
Thank you, very helpful review. I’ll skip this one.
Thanks for the heads up! I won’t read this one.
I agree. I gave up on this one after reading too many sex scenes.
thank you for this review. this helped made my decision to skip a lot easier.
The sex scenes wouldn't bother me, but the rape scenes certainly would, even more so if I have no warning, so thanks for that.
Thank you for coming back to reviewing for this one! Saved me a read!
Jen wrote: "Thank you for coming back to reviewing for this one! Saved me a read!"So glad to help! These comments have made me so happy. It's so easy to feel very alone in these opinions these days, and I am grateful to all who commented to remind me that we truly aren't alone. <3
Thank you. I wish there were more reviewers who wrote such reviews. I came to GR wondering if I should request this book...now I know to pass. I appreciate your honesty.
Thank you for this review. I’m going to start following you so please keep writing reviews. You seem to have the perspective about books and explicit content that I do. We need you.
I wish I’d read your review before ordering it. Ah well. Off to the second hand it will go.
So tired of reading rape scenes so I appreciate your warning. Thank you. I’ve grown more sensitive as I’ve aged and it’s just enough is enough for me personally. If I can avoid it I will.
I read it in one sitting because I skipped over the “.rape and sex scenes”. So about 1/4 of the book. Should have come with warnings for sure. Enjoyed the rest of the book.
sorry, but I did not feel like the sex scenes were as explicit as this reviewer claims, although there should always be a warning about them in reviews.
27 pages in and I’m about to DNF it for this very reason. I love historical fiction but what I’ve read so far is not at all what I expected, and is disappointing. I have no problem with sexual content but I wanted a story about the witch hunt, not heaving bosoms and hands roaming. 🙄
Gail wrote: "sorry, but I did not feel like the sex scenes were as explicit as this reviewer claims, although there should always be a warning about them in reviews."You are more than welcome to feel that way, but I don't have any desire to read pornographic content in my books. My review is only useful to those who have similar content preferences to me, and anyone else is welcome to not care what I think.
Whole heartedly agree. This could have been a 5 star read if not for the explicit sex. Really ruined it for me.
Wish I had seen your review before I read it. My thoughts exactly. You nailed the exact reason I disliked this book. It was not historical fiction.
the sexual content in this book was really not that bad. try reading a Colleen Hoover book and then tell me about pornographic content!
I don’t mind sex scenes and the ones in this book weren’t explicit by any standards but they certainly felt out of place in the novel, they didn’t add anything and at points even detracted from the main story line - fade to black would have worked perfectly well if the author still wanted to be suggestive at what was going on. I also thought the rape scenes being alluded to would have sufficed and certainly didn’t need a play by play of those.
Thanks for the review. Personally I don't mind a bit of sex in my books BUT, I do wish they'd Mark books as EXPLICIT the same way they do music. I'd like to know ahead of time so I could decide BEFORE I spent my money or dove into reading. The way they label music let's me choose when and what I want to hear, and I wish it was similar in the book publishing world.
Thank you for this review and I'm glad I saw it. I find books with sex scenes to simply be lazy writing and filler. I had downloaded it as an Amazon Prime First reads too, but I'll pass on this book and just deleted it.
Thank you for taking the time to give your review and content warnings. I am personally grateful as I would have been interested in this topic but will skip because of your info.
Definitely not explicit sex scenes and definitely not porn. If you think it is, then there's a whole world of books you'd be shocked by. I think this is damaging to the author to claim it.
Thank you for your review. I have no desire to read explicit scenes in books, especially rape scenes. It's upsetting and not necessary. I really appreciate your review!
Because of your review, I’m skipping this one. Thank you for returning to reviews! :-)
For perspective - the sex scenes were used to paint her as a woman who did not fit Puritan standards and as such, another reason that the community did not accept her and was so quick to condemn her.
This review is inaccurate and damaging to the book and author. There are no explicit scenes in this book. Yes, there are mentions of sex and rape, but not a single explicit scene. If you avoid this book based on this review, you are missing out.
There are no explicit sex scenes and the description of rape is because the CHARACTER WAS RAPED. My god, difficult for me to believe adults have gotten this far without basic critical thinking skills.
I’m glad to know this. I find sex scenes a boring add unless directly related and integral to the plot. More and more books have become unnecessarily explicit - especially witchcraft. It leaves me passing on witchcraft books more than I want to.
I’m glad to know this. I find sex scenes a boring add unless directly related and integral to the plot. More and more books have become unnecessarily explicit - especially witchcraft. It leaves me passing on witchcraft books more than I want to.
Thank you!!! I definitely don’t wanna read about that!!!
Thanks for this review. My own was from more of a true crime/real person perspective and historical accuracy when it came to my criticism of, well the rape scenes in particular. Mostly due to the fact that Margaret Jones and Thomas jones (he was roofied and raped) were real people yet they were raped by fictional characters…and there was no reason for it because it didn’t move the story along. So actually there were 4 rapes in this book 2 to Margaret by fictional men (again why and why when she was a minor? Since it did say that it happened when she “first bled”) that one attempt though he couldn’t preform. Then the roofie and rape of Thomas Jones by the widow (who never existed in history/the trial/any records) for me looking at it from a true crime perspective it’s the author slapping the face of living breathing people and one of whom was hanged by the neck and killed. Margaret Jones wasn’t a fictional character, she was real (as was her husband) and she had been murdered (I think with some of it people tend to forget that real people were involved in this)
Jessica, thanks for your review. I’m not interested in explicit sex & rape scenes, either.
Never commented on a review before but thank you!! I was very excited for this book but you have saved me a lot of time and frustration.
A puritan wrote this review. You really thought you died something with this post, didn't you?I'm approaching the end of the book and this review is like so many GR reviews, the reader refuses to do any work and gripes loudly.
People bang; therefore, people in literature bang. Get over it. You can skim, skip, or fast-forward. Perhaps charge the author with being a strumpet? There's always YA if you can't handle it.
Interesting that rape bothers people in a book, yet it's fine irl. It should be the other way around. Ffs
Thank you for this review! I’m not interested in reading rape scenes. I’m disappointed I chose this as my First Reads book because it sounded like an interesting historical novel, but I’m glad I didn’t pay for this. What if a child had picked this up? As a previous commenter mentioned, I wish they could mark it or include spice level so people could make informed choices. But alas, this will be back burnered.
Thank you for saving me time on reading this book. I really wish books came with content warnings like films do so people can avoid certain content. Three rape scenes sounds horrific and people should be warned well in advance.
