Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

43 reviews

aj_langley's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism and Child abuse

bi_n_large's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Slavery, Racism, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Grief, Incest, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Child abuse

Minor: Sexual violence, Police brutality, Homophobia, Biphobia, and Lesbophobia

logantea's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I guess this is what I get, buying a book on cover alone.

This book was alright. And by the end it had goaded me into actively wanting to see the end. But I spent a ton of my time with this book feeling like it was excruciatingly long and slow. The writing is so overwrought with flowery descriptions and repetition of the same scene setting and background.

There’s also some really weird style choices in this book I don’t understand at all. Like the mockumentary footnotes, which never added anything to the storytelling and get randomly abandoned a quarter of the way in.

I didn’t mind reading this, but I’m glad to be done with it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse and Sexual assault

sparklefarm's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Partway through this book, I thought to myself, hmm, I like this but I'm not as invested as I was in Harrow's other books. Then later I found myself involuntarily yelling "No!" in my car so it turns out she got me in the end. Just leave me here, tangled in wisteria and honeysuckle and kudzu. I'm fine being haunted by this house. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Car accident, Grief, Death of parent, and Child abuse

Minor: Incest, Suicide attempt, Slavery, and Fire/Fire injury

rpremo's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

It was enchanting and mystical.  Opal was frustrating throughout the whole book but Arthur and the house really held the story together and we’re very likable. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Violence, Vomit, Suicide, Slavery, Pregnancy, and Incest

soniajoy98's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Classism, Cursing, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Death, Deportation, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Murder, Misogyny, Child abuse, and Sexual violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body horror, Bullying, Drug use, Incest, Lesbophobia, Self harm, and Physical abuse

kimveach's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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? Yes

4.0

Excellent narration added to this creepy horror novel.  Perfect for October.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Bullying, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death of parent, Sexism, Violence, Classism, Grief, Incest, Kidnapping, Stalking, Abandonment, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Toxic friendship

aileron's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, and Blood

Moderate: Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Vomit, Child abuse, Incest, Slavery, Murder, and Racism

kat_rowlen's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A good and creepy read perfect for spooky season! Some parts where a bit hard to follow and the addition of footnotes that disappeared 1/4 way through the boom was kind of odd 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse

devynreadsnovels's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death of parent, Grief, Violence, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual content, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abortion, Incest, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Classism, Deportation, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, and Racism