Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - The Monster of Elendhaven

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht

34 reviews

river24's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

5.0

5/5
Where do I even begin? This is the most beautiful, well-written book that I've ever read. The writing is magical, every single line holds so much depth and emotion. I loved every single aspect of this book!
It's dark and bloody and so, so incredible. The relationship between the two main characters had me screaming in this venomous glee. It was–for lack of a better word–gloriously fucked up. Their relationship teetered precariously over the cliffside, swaying back and forth between the firmness of the crumbling soil and the black waters below. I cannot describe with words how perfect this book was. The relationship also reminded me a lot of the relationship between Hannibal and Will in the Hannibal TV show.
This book delves into a shadowed city with a vengeance at its heart and a monster on its heels. I always adore when books explore what it means to be a monster and what it means to be human, this book did so flawlessly in a non-explicit way.
Queer horror as a genre is something I always love and always come back to, please give me recommendations if you have any !! This book was everything and is something that I'll be recommending forever–I will not be forgetting about this book anytime soon!
I always stand by the fact that magic is a metaphor for queerness and I think that the horror genre often holds its own unique spin on queerness in its bloody jaws and both of those factors I am in awe of every single time.
This is quite a short book therefore this review doesn't go into immense detail because I don't want to spoil it, but trust me this book is worth your blood, sweat, tears and more.
Some of my favourite quotes were; 'Don't you feel it, sometimes? As if the world wants to consume itself.' 'Magic is not in the brain, miss; it is in the bones.' 'Thin ice isn’t a problem for the sea; it’s a problem for the blind idiot who steps out on it.'

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aardwyrm's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Pure dark chocolate in unsafe proportions, lovingly rendered villain protagonists full of weird, macabre nonsense and loads of gothic vibes. Skillfully rendered, 100% atmosphere by volume, self indulgent and exquisitely so. Anyway there's weird magic and a lotta murder.

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micheala's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

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

2.5

This is a case of knowing a book isn't going to be your cup of tea, and reading it anyways. The author is from Halifax, Nova Scotia and as this is my first weekend since moving here, when I saw it at the thrift store I just had to buy it.

It's a weird horror novella, kind of steampunk/fantasy feeling. It's super dark and graphic, and totally out of my comfort zone.

While I didn't necessarily like the plot or the characters, I will say that it is well written. So if your a fan of horror I would definitely give it a shot. I would recommend looking up some content warnings as it has some big ones.

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quirkyaquarian's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

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

3.75

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witchycowboy's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This is a nasty book, with nasty people doing nasty things.
If you can get your hands on the audiobook I highly rec it. As it really just made this book so much better!
This is a dark fantasy horror that follows two men that fancy themselves as monsters. Florian is a wizard with a heart full of hate for the people around him and Johann is the unkillable beast that serves him.
I love this book so much, it has everything that I love. Nasty main characters, gothic fantasy themes, LGBTQ+ characters, and lastly ... Lots and lots of gore, body horror, and lust.

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rotfaced's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book inspired me to start writing again. My only complaint is that it is too short. The prose is beautiful, tightly written, and full of detail which makes rereading fun. I read this book twice, each time in one sitting; Many of my friends were able to do the same. If I were not currently lending it out to my friends, I would likely be reading it again.

This book has incredibly dark overtones and sets the scene with a (TW) sexual assault, which is obvious if not terribly explicit. The gore is spelled out in detail. The main characters are well-personified bastards, obviously meant to be read as villains, and their relationship-- central to the plot and to the pacing-- is filthy and treacherous. This is not a light read, nor is it meant to make you feel good. You are getting right what it says on the tin, but I loved every moment of it.

On Johann and Florian's relationship:

Disclosure: I am a bisexual man. I want more mlm content like this. This book is explicitly gay in its framing of the relationship between Johann and Florian (sexually/physically, if not always romantically). I want more awful, terrible men who are also queer. Reading this book destroyed my standards. I had given up on trying to find compelling queer men in rich fictional settings where the narrative isn't ABOUT being queer, and this book got my hopes up again. I know this isn't everyone's cup of tea, nor do I expect it to be, but it is something I wish we had the option to read more often.

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