Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Mary: An Awakening of Terror by Nat Cassidy

113 reviews

dijigoo53's review

dark reflective tense fast-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

An incredible portrait of the mundane horrors of being middle-aged and the psychological pitfalls that accompany it. While conventional horror tropes are used throughout, at no point does the book become "predictable." This book blew me out of the water! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, and Dysphoria

Minor: Animal death, Sexual content, and Vomit

emilythebarwench's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I'm not necssarily a horror fan, but I sailed through this book and couldn't put it down. Would recommend! Quite graphic however..

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

rebrosecca's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

4.5

 Disturbing in all the right and wrong ways. I was surprised to learn the author was male considering the main character and 99% of the plot is pre-menopausal women issues. In the end, though, it makes a lot of sense. The misogyny is heavy. The horror is gruesome and uncomfortable. The humor is morbid. The way he paired legit issues about society's portrayal of aging women with gritty, in-your-face violence was unexpectedly confronting. The making of the monsters in this book is chilling and leaves you unsure if the ending is a victory or justice has gotten out of hand. If you want to read something that feels like Stephen King but includes violence against women, this is a solid pick. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

athompson0429's review

dark mysterious 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

5.0

I support women’s wrongs (mainly just in this book but still)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Violence

Moderate: Gore

mlovesbooks's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious 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

4.5

Loved it much more than I thought I would. Mary, you're a queen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexism, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Homophobia

pagesofpemberley's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Violence

kaitlouise94's review

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

saccharinewoe's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

something about this book made me feel so much dread at times i was holding my breath, especially with the paranormal stuff lol. had great pacing and was written really well. it was nice to read about an MC that's an older perimenopausal woman (

even if she's got a serial killer in her head

)... i feel like those experiences are often shoved aside or talked about in hush because of how much shame is (unfortunately) tied to aging - which was definitely one of the base motifs in this. i really enjoyed this book a lot and was gagged to the very end lol like it kept me guessing! of course, i would've liked it if it came from the voice of a middle-aged women but as the afterword said - i hope this does open up these conversations so there's more appreciation of that life period for women.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

megbroache's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

klhunter42's review

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I devoured the first 75% of the book but the last quarter dragged on and seemed to over stay it's welcome.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis