Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Hide by Kiersten White

13 reviews

emalda's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Mass/school shootings, Violence, Kidnapping, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Child death, Confinement, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Murder, Genocide, Gore, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Chronic illness, and Blood

Moderate: Racial slurs, War, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Toxic friendship, Torture, Religious bigotry, and Racism

jaimc's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Classism, Gore, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

Minor: War, Religious bigotry, Gun violence, and Lesbophobia

cady_sass's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

“The Cabin in the Woods” but set it in an decrepit amusement park. That’s it, that’s the plot. 

This was SO promising. A hide and seek competition with a potentially sinister backstory, 14 people in a hunger-games style competition to battle to the end for $50k? Set in a creepy, run down amusement park? Sign me up! Also, that cover! 😍

Unfortunately there are just too many characters and all of them lack depth, I couldn’t tell you anything interesting about ANYONE except for Mack, the most primary character, and even her backstory is muddy and doesn’t feel fully fleshed out. Honestly the best part was the ending, and the very last line in the book- “who fucking cares”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Gore, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Child death, and Emotional abuse

mauvesoul's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Blood, Gore, Homophobia, Classism, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Torture

Minor: Medical trauma, Medical content, Misogyny, and Lesbophobia

krissysbooked's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

 

Sorry Del Ray... you sent me this one a while ago and I only just got around to reading it. In my defense, this is a fun horror suspense novel and we're about to enter Spooky season so I'm reading it at the right time of year! 

We start the book following Mack, a homeless person, who is being offered an opportunity to win $50k by taking part in a competition. Money that would see her gaining monetary security that she hasn't had in a long time. She wants time to think about the offer but is ultimately guided (forced?) into it. 

We pick up the story with Mack being transported on a bus to an undisclosed location with a group of 13 others - a mix of 'influencers' and others like her who have hidden and traumatic pasts. They soon start to figure each other out as they are introduced to the competition space where they have a base camp, some basic supplies, and no cell service. Their only objective is to hide each day between sunrise and sunset, two of them will be found and eliminated from the game each day. 

We are then taken on a suspenseful joruney over the following days where Macks past is coming back to haunt her, we find the contestants have more in common than they think, and we find out that maybe (just maybe) this isn't actually a game after all. All set to the back drop of a creepy, overgrown, disused fairground... perfect! 

Kiersten White has weaved an intriguing, suspenseful story, that kept me guessing and changing my mind right up to the end. A complex cast of characters had me judging all of them for different reasons and then realising how complex they each were. You can never truly judge a book by its cover. 

There are characters that you will love, others that you will hate, and quite a few who fall into the in-between. There are stories of betrayal, friendship, and even love and the extent people will go to, to protect those they care about. Despite being a 'horror' story on the face of it, this story has it all and even if you aren't a horror fan I think you'll enjoy this one. 

The ending was wrapped up nicely but with a sliver of hope for a sequel, and I'd love to see what happens next. 

Verdict: A complex horror that is perfect for spooky season (despite being set in summer!). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Trafficking, Torture, Child abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, and Racism

Minor: Ableism, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, and War

connorjdaley's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

3.0

I wanted this book since DelRey first posted the cover reveal. I thought it looked so cool and the premise was promising. This was my pick in a bookstagram giveaway! 

This is a fourteen person, seven day hide-and-seek competition. Two people can get out a day and there is only one single winner. With $50,000 on the line, even with the game running from sunup to sundown daily, who wouldn’t be enticed into playing? Of course nothing is as it seems, there’s the horror. 

At only 240 pages, this is a rather short one. Yet it still felt like kind of a slog to me. The story takes a strange amount of time to get going, the characters’ backgrounds play so heavily into the story and yet most of them are pointless or even unbelievable. The exposition takes away almost all of the creepiness…and let me tell you, this could have been a really creepy story. 

The last section of the book though I really did enjoy (although even that felt like it went on for a little too long) which saved it. Once the truth is out the novel kind of goes balls-to-the-walls for the last 40 or so pages. Still in no way creepy or scary, but at the least I was entertained and interested to see what happened. 

Kind of into it, but I didn’t love it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Blood, Emotional abuse, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, and Grief

bookishgoob's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

Holy cow! What a ride this was. A perfect fast paced summer horror book! If you watched & liked “Fear street” on netflix, i highly recommend this book! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Violence, Chronic illness, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Domestic abuse, and Religious bigotry

nixieba25f's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Mass/school shootings, Grief, Murder, Ableism, Racism, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Violence, War, Excrement, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Gun violence, Suicide, Death, Death of parent, and Homophobia

livlamentloathe's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Racism, Lesbophobia, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Mental illness

Minor: Medical trauma, Gore, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and War