Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Devil House by John Darnielle

5 reviews

yrioona's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Weighed down a bit by metanarrative, deliberate repetition, and high concept touches (really could've done without the barely-relevant medieval interlude in fake gothic font), and treading some overly familiar ground as far as JD's themes and settings, but still really compelling and complex. It has a skillfully done puzzle-box/labyrinth structure that leads you through without spelling things out too much, teasing a straightforward narrative about troubled teens resorting to violence, but then gradually zooming out to reveal  
a kind of class-conscious existential horror story about what happens when you apply compassion and imagination to the true crime genre. I picked this up because I'm a mountain goats fan and WIWV was pretty ok, but this is a huge step up from WIWV and it made me look forward to what's next. Pretty incredible what this guy can do! Wish he would write some more interesting women characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Classism, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Addiction, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

m_e_ruzak's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Bullying, and Drug use

zw_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

Incredibly dull and keeps jumping between 3 different stories

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Alcohol, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Murder, Vomit, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, and Violence

vixenreader's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

This novel reads more like a textbook than anything. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Grief, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Classism, Child death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic friendship, Blood, and Mental illness

Minor: Bullying and Physical abuse

This novel delves into the subjects of poverty and there is a murder that involves chopping up an entire body into small pieces after committing murder in self defence.