Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Mary: An Awakening of Terror by Nat Cassidy

40 reviews

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

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

crispr_breadboard's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This book was incredible. Gory, lots of triggers, but the careful lens of looking at a peri-menopause woman deeply embedded in the toxic patriarchy WHILE STILL being a book about religion, sexism, ageism, and horror? Phew. It was a great book. 

Another impressive note— the author wrote with notable care and sensitivity about menopause- he has also written an afterword discussing the very real and complex topic of whether a man should even be *allowed* to write about the topic with such core themes around womanhood, menopause, and self identity. He did a fantastic job, which he acknowledges is also thanks to his editor and her team of sensitivity readers. Great work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Excrement, and Death of parent

Also has creepy scenes about insects too.

shelbylanglois's review

dark reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

wylovat's review

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

minaopal's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Violence, Vomit, and Murder

Minor: Death of parent

archaicrobin's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Mary is about a sincerely weird middle aged woman with identity issues who returns to her verbally abusive aunt’s home in hopes of reliving her past and finding out who she is. Unfortunately, Mary is tied to the town in ways she never expected and is haunted not just by her past, but by actual malevolent spirits only she can see. 

This one is a gory, weird, humorous, and empowering novel about how society views middle aged woman mixed with a violent twisted cult led by a misogynistic serial killer and kooky townspeople. 

Mary was hard for me to get into at first just because Mary herself it is not very likable to begin with and the story moves a little slowly. However, I stuck with it and I’m glad I did because once things start happening they don’t stop! I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed this one, and recommend it to anyone looking for a horror novel that’s disturbing and twisty but feminist and reflective.  Check content warnings for sure, this one is gory. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

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

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, Bullying, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

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

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

kkalicky94's review

challenging dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

jamieleepilk's review

challenging dark mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury