Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Bloom by Delilah S. Dawson

8 reviews

c_leen_'s review against another edition

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

4.5

So good. Not usually a horror fan but this did it for me. The writing sometimes pulled me out of the story and the ending was a little hamfisted/villain monologuey, but still thoroughly enjoyed it.

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halierivers's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

If I had to summarize this books it would be this: makes you crave artisan cupcakes and wonder who is the bigger red flag here??

Short read. Lots of fun. I suspected the twist about halfway but still enjoyed reading through it. I want more sapphic horror in my life. Perfect for a rainy night or Halloween time. 

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noeldiem's review against another edition

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dark 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? N/A

4.5


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annasusan's review against another edition

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3.75


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flywings's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Honestly, this was pretty fun! Predictable in the way that a good weekend horror movie is. “Don’t open that door!” “You didn’t tell her your middle name! How did she know?”; the usual frustrations with an extremely oblivious MC that is about to become a final girl. that part of the book was 10/10

the part that rankled was the “hidden in plain sight” theme. it was incredibly heavy-handed to the point of being unrealistic. Ro “didn’t notice” enough red flags to decorate a six flags entrance “because Ash was a woman”. While there is something to be said for predator women not being viewed as such because of gender, Ro’s obliviousness was beyond the pale. The woman in question bludgeoned a raccoon TO DEATH in front of Ro, belittled Ro at every turn, and kept 1000 secrets. they fucked and she wouldn’t even tell Ro her last name?????? she kept her nail clippings?????

Ro spends whole paragraphs talking about how her last relationship made her “paranoid” and “insecure”but immediately agrees to meet a strange farmer at her house alone…? even with Ro having what sounds like a terrible childhood, and recently out of a bad relationship, there’s no way a woman living alone in the 21st century would be this nonchalant about her own safety. idk if the author was really trying to help the dense readers Get It or what but it was distractingly unrealistic. Ro questioning Ash’s motives or even taking more precautions before dating this mysterious woman would’ve made this feel much more real. Ro didn’t even ask around the farmers market about her, despite those people seeing her EVERY WEEK

And don’t get me started on Ro assuming that a sapphic relationship would be so much easier and superior to being with a man because ~girls get each other~. Obviously the author meant for this to come across as deeply reductive to the point of being sheltered, but the author also made Ro repeat the sentiment so many times that it felt robotic. we GET it, you think this weird bitch relationship will magically work out, despite all the evidence to the contrary, because of ~girl code~ or something. it was such a straight high school girl take that it felt foreign coming out of a 27 year olds mouth multiple times. 

Idk like there’s oblivious final girl and then there’s this… characterizations left much to be desired. the cat in this had more sense than any character

Tldr: fun queer horror read if you can suspend your disbelief! thank you Annie 💜

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mobymaize's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Overall Bloom is an incredible piece of queer horror that does not have the characters’ sexualities be a major part of the plot. While at times the writing falls into fanfiction territory, I still throughly enjoyed this story and its truly delectable & delightful hints to what’s happening. As I slowly realized what happened, I genuinely felt sick to my stomach /pos. 

Quite campy, but quite compelling!

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erynlasbelin's review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
 Beautifully written, weirdly relatable, and immensely disturbing.

Content warning: violence against animals. 

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