Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

34 reviews

chainsawheartbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-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? Yes

2.5

I’ve finally finished this.

The combination of characters and insane morals people will drop to all for the “good of the town” were really interesting, and I found the actual setting intriguing, I loved learning more about its rich and fucked up history. 

But this felt like a slog. I really wanted to enjoy it more than I did, and I can’t really put my finger on why I didn’t.

There was a whole host of characters that I both wanted more information on, while also not really caring what happened to them.

And I really wish that the witch had more to do, especially in the end. I understand the whole metaphorical aspect of it, but I wanted her to get shit done.

All in all, I’m content with the fact I’ve read it, but I sadly can’t see myself revisiting this. Evidently this just wasn’t for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death, Confinement, Grief, Gore, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Rape, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, and Islamophobia

hauntedantiqueshop's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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

1.0

an absurd amount of nipple in this book and I assure you, it isn’t in a fun sexy way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Grief, Death, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gore, Child death, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement, Suicide, Medical trauma, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Gun violence, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Incest, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Alcohol

There isn’t a tag for the f slur but it is used a handful of times.

aparker89's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

This is a solid book! A fascinating story full of terror, love, heartbreak and most importantly- the evil of mankind! 
Good f&cking book! Definitely not for the faint of heart but damn- my heart hurts after reading this! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Classism, Genocide, Medical trauma, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Blood, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Torture, Confinement, Gore, Police brutality, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Homophobia, and Islamophobia

dan_tee's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

A lot of good stuff in this book. For the pure horror, the author builds tension well and holds it across many pages at a time. It makes you want to know more, even as you're peeking through your fingers. 

It has some interesting themes m, though I'm not sure the author knew what they wanted to say with some of them. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Islamophobia

Minor: Homophobia

A couple of descriptions stick out as offensive/out of place. It's helpful to remember this was written 10+ years ago, and the author is not endorsing homophobic or islsmophonic views, merely using characters with these virws to solidify who these bigots were and what they thought.

dreamofbookspines's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

EXTREMELY scary. The phrase "banality of evil" kept coming to mind. Sometimes the tone or phrasing was odd but that may be a translation artifact.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse

quazimodo's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

2.75

Te veel tepels. Taalgebruik van de tieners is erg grof.

Wat was dat einde, man? Ik had dit misschien niet moeten lezen voor het slapengaan...

Boek bevat een redelijke lijst aan trigger warnings, zoek ze op voor je gaat lezen, alsjeblieft?

Een interessant boek maar het was gewoon denk ik niet voor mij. Blij dat ik het heb gelezen maar ik heb nu een lichter boek nodig haha

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Suicide, Animal death, Sexual violence, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Blood, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Self harm and Excrement

cosmicpanda's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Violence, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Blood, Child death, Medical content, Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs

kellyofcali's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

I really like the first three-quarters of this - a horrifying slow burn. It is pretty brutal and gruesome, so beware if you don't like sort of gory and generally troubling horror. However, the end suddenly shot off the rails into chaos, feeling out of character with the book and frankly losing me a bit - I preferred the slower build.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mass/school shootings, Confinement, Child death, Grief, Bullying, Violence, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Animal death, Suicide, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Religious bigotry and Rape

turtleofhades's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.75

This book. This book is gonna leave me with nightmares for the next little while.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Suicide

Moderate: Child abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Animal death, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Sexual harassment, Child death, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Abandonment, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Islamophobia, Torture, Animal cruelty, Blood, Cursing, Mental illness, Classism, Death, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, and Sexism

monstersinspace's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

This book is very obviously written by a man, and a man obsessed with Steven King no less. It reads like a book written in 1970, casual sexism and all. There are only three named female characters who actually get to talk. The constant unnecessary groping of the character who was a victim of domestic violence was so unnecessary and added nothing to the story. I only suffered through the meandering end in the hope that something satisfying would come about from the witch, but was let down completely. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Animal death, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Sexism, Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Gun violence