Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo

8 reviews

nikoops's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

Really great read for fans of a good old ghost story. Definitely leaves you wanting to know more about the fates of these characters, and there were definitely parts that had me wishing the author would have delved a bit deeper. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Drug use, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Terminal illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Bullying

While this story does not contain incest between blood related siblings, the main character Andrew and Eddie are referred to as siblings by adoption at times, so the intense relationship they had may be read by some as having incest-ish vibes

dodgeremerson's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Body horror, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Death, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Alcohol, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Confinement, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia, Cursing, Medical content, Physical abuse, Classism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Drug use, and Drug abuse

Minor: Religious bigotry, Car accident, Transphobia, and Death of parent

zghutcheson01's review

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

I really loved this book. It took me about 30 pages to get into it but once I did I couldn't put it down. Without spoilers, I do enjoy how this book came to a satisfying ending without frantically rushing to resolve all of the character issues. It let the book feel like a peek into someone's life and you know things are going to change but that the hardest part is over. The nurder mystery part isn't super compelling but I honestly think that's not the main point of the book which is the character development and exploration of the supernatural which it does really well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Grief, Suicide, Violence, Racism, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Addiction, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Domestic abuse and Transphobia

fanboyriot's review

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted 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

5.0

Read For:
Ghosts
Chaotic Gays
Spooky Fantasy
Dark Academia
Fast Cars and Stupid Decisions

I read a review that said this was like a gay fever dream and that sums up a lot of it.  The supernatural elements and the overall eerie atmosphere were really lovely.  It was well written, however, the romance was kind of meh at first, by the end of the book it was better but it just felt like there could have been more development with Andrew and Sam.  Overall, the ending was nice and I would definitely re-read this again.
 

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (5/5)

Release Date: 28, September 2021

POV: Third Person

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Rep: Achillean MC, Trans Character, Queer Characters, Polyamorous MMF, BIPOC SC, MC with Anxiety

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Self harm, Cursing, Blood, Murder, Suicide, Death, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Drug use, Grief, Violence, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Racism, Addiction, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Vomit, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Transphobia, Sexism, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Biphobia, Religious bigotry, and Misogyny

lexarch's review

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Homophobia, Emotional abuse, and Racism

Minor: Classism

kkulhannie's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Outing, Physical abuse, Racism, Vomit, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Suicide, Self harm, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Slavery

lhcodega's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Alcoholism

Minor: Biphobia, Blood, and Vomit

queerly_reading's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

5.0

I absolutely loved this book! It was mysterious and sometimes tense, but it was a very interesting read!

There are a lot of content warnings, and I tried to tag everything I could think of. The one that really caught me off guard was the one that I elaborated on in the spoiler text.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Violence, Homophobia, Suicide, Grief, Blood, Murder, Body horror, Emotional abuse, and Self harm

Moderate: Drug use, Racism, Child abuse, Transphobia, Sexual content, and Torture

Minor: Animal death

MC is forced to feel/see someone else’s suicide from their point of view by their ghost. Also, possession by ghost happens a couple of times.