Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Mary: An Awakening of Terror by Nat Cassidy

9 reviews

wyabook234's review

dark emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Kidnapping, Medical content, and Ableism

_meeg's review

NGL dude this one was just too brutal for me. Felt too unwell to justify continuing reading after the cactus scene.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Sexism, Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Confinement, Grief, Suicide, Death, Murder, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Drug use, Addiction, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Cursing, Excrement, Gore, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, and Suicidal thoughts

vixenreader's review

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Akin to the works of Ottessa Moshfesh, this is an intimate, scary study of a disturbed character going through ordeals that are both relatable and horrifying. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Religious bigotry, Confinement, Fatphobia, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Gore, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Blood, Grief, Toxic friendship, Torture, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Body horror, Body shaming, Death of parent, Bullying, Violence, Cursing, and Death

Moderate: Kidnapping, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Drug use, Abandonment, Racism, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Cancer, Animal cruelty, Ableism, and Child death

Minor: Alcohol, Excrement, Vomit, and Lesbophobia

Please be aware that there is ageism against middle-aged women, cult activity, family dysfunction, murder of a family member, and purposeful glorification of a serial killer.

jkar7's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I almost DNFed this book, but then there was a hook that got me. I'm glad I finished! There were parts of this that really creeped me out, but also parts that made me laugh. Mary sometimes felt relatable and her inner-monolgue was sometimes funny, and other times super depressing and hard to read. 
But please, don't make the same mistake as me. Do not read the afterword.
And DEFINITELY check content warnings!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Ableism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Medical content, Vomit, Confinement, Violence, and Medical trauma

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Stalking

parasolcrafter's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

0.25

i dont think ive ever read a book where i have so VISCERALLY hated an entire cast of characters this much ohhhhhh my GOD. genuinely the only likeable characters are nancy and eleanor,  and eleanor turns out horrible in the end (not unexpected at all, just sad) and nancy ends up dying and being the scapegoat for everything, even though she is the only genuiely Good Person (see what i did there, haha ← chanelled the author of the book for that, do u see how annoying it is) in the WHOLE cast of characters. like...im sorry, but what the fuck? like i am genuinely asking: what the fuck. this book just REEKS of being written by someone who has no idea what on earth theyre writing about. and beyind that, the story is so wholly unsurprising, unshocking, un-fucking anything enjoyable. its a spectacle. it really is. its so truly incredible how badly everything came together.

none of the twists feel earned since they were all so easily guessable (like noooo way, mary is the serial killer reincarnated??? oh say it isnt so...surely nobody guessed that at all) and because of that, fell entirely flat. like never once was i caught off guard by a piece of info or shocked or felt as if anything we learned put anything into place snce everything felt obvious from the beginning. like we KNOW there's something wrong with mary from the beginning. we know she killed her neighbours dog. we know that. its obvious. like...i dont even know what else to say about that. it was all just SO badly implemented.

also like it truly is a little mind-blowing how this book still managed to drive home the old 'the serial killer is just a crazy psycho on the loose' despite the fact that i dont think that was meant to be the case...? thats an entirely horrible trope in and of itself and the fact that this book has it in it, just a somewhat misdrect from the entirely obvious plot point, is BAFFLING to me. like it adds nothing the story. nothing. and like..are we supposed to care about mary? are we supposed to sympathize with her? feel pity for her? i hate her. i wish she died out in that fucking desert. i wish the furies would have clawed her eyes out and skinned her the way the members of the flock do to their sacrifices. thats what she deserves. she is a horrible woman, through and through, with no redeeming qualities. i dont believe for even a SECOND that she was ever acting not of her own volition and that its all blamed on 'being the reincarnation of damon cross', aside from the few times he Actually took her over. but before that? before she knew? no; that was all mary.

the only few good parts about this is, at least, that the book is at least self-aware. i appreciated that there was a little bit of satire against true crime culture and it did seem to have (some) insight into what women g through during their lives and how they change during menopause, but those parts were few and far between.

the book also just isnt scary; except, maybe, scary how bad it is.

and to answer the question in the authors afterword which is, directly; 'Was this a story I should have pursued? Or should I have let it scratch in vain inside the haunted trunk of ideas that sits inside every writer's brain?' yes; you absolutely should have locked it away and never looked at this idea again, for fucks sake.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Bullying, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Child abuse, and Mental illness

blacksphinx's review

dark emotional inspiring 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? Yes

3.5

I did enjoy this book, but it's a stew of various elements I'm not sure all come together in the end. I don't regret my time with it, but it goes off in a direction I wasn't expecting (both in a good and bad way) and I'm not sure how likely I am to recommend it to others or reread it. I would hold it up as a shockingly good example of feminist horror written by a man though, and I will definitely be reading Nat Cassidy's next book, Nestlings, when it comes out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Sexism, Misogyny, Murder, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, and Gun violence

Minor: Terminal illness, Racism, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, and Death of parent

scytheria's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, Sexism, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Body shaming, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Violence, Dysphoria, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Ableism, and Vomit

morganmay's review

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

I absolutely loved this book. If you read it you HAVE to read the author’s notes (one at the beginning and one at the end) as they are a huge part of the reason I loved this. I won’t give too much away, but it definitely went a different direction than I predicted and I will keep parts of Thai book with me forever.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Abandonment, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Cancer, Death of parent, Body horror, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Ableism, Animal death, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Torture, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Stalking, Misogyny, Bullying, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Violence, and Trafficking

sarah984's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

This was just okay for me. It was way too long and unfocused in places but it had a few good scares and some of the stuff with the ghosts was great. I get what the author was trying to say with the ending but I'm not 100% sure it worked.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, and Gore

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Stalking, Blood, Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Murder, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Minor: Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Vomit, and Child death