Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Mary: An Awakening of Terror by Nat Cassidy

41 reviews

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

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

natspat98's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Animal death, Body horror, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Gore, Murder, Dysphoria, Blood, Body shaming, Death, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Violence and Torture

mostibea's review

While I appreciate the premise of the book, I found it repetitive but was going to continue reading, until I read the animal abuse part. It is very quickly mentioned but I am sensitive to that so I won’t be finishing the book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death and Animal cruelty

princess_marie's review against another edition

dark funny 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

3.5

It was a good and interesting story that did keep me engaged but it got a little too weird for my taste (almost to the point of being "silly").

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Death, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Misogyny, Murder, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Religious bigotry, Violence, Sexual violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Medical content

moosereads1's review

dark emotional 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

This book was definitely interesting for me, and I honestly didn't expect most of the plot twists! While it does talk a decent amount about menopause and the struggles faced by menopausal women, as advertised, it turns to a larger examination of the way women are treated in society - how they must be Good and Useful. Social commentary aside, it's just a good, gory book! I always love an angry, vengeful female MC, and this book does a great job of showing her progression toward rage rather than having her start off angry. There were a couple of stereotypes about women that I didn't appreciate sprinkled throughout, but my only real issue was not a fault of the story but my own personal views - this contained one of my few triggers and I wasn't fully prepared for it. If you have an issue with harm coming to animals, especially dogs, proceed with caution!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Blood, Gore, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Animal death, Body shaming, Death, and Violence

katiearcher's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

There is only one likeable character in the whole book. I thought I had this book figured out in the first 5 minutes but then it took an unexpected twist. Which I’m not sure I liked. But the ending was strong. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Murder, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

_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.

alexisgarcia's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

hmm… major content warnings here. i do appreciate women’s issues, especially later in life, being amplified and normalized. however, it might just be me but i feel like people enjoying watching or conducting sexual violence shouldn’t be in horror. it feels like the author is just grasping at straws trying to find anything that will scare readers. it  made me sick to my stomach, but not in the way horror should. this was also 150 pages too long. the plot itself was really unique and had a lot of promise, but i think the author copped-out on a lot of the “scares”.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug use, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Gore, and Grief

bookswithmeghann's review

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Murder, Animal death, Death, and Blood