Reviews tagging 'Torture'

A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw

17 reviews

anarchist_al's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

A pretty disorienting read—we begin with a narrator whose storyline is simply abandoned for basically the rest of the book. It eventually makes sense, but was kind of a head scratcher for the majority of the book. I really liked the setting of Pastoral, with beautiful descriptions of trees and forest and darkness. I was really intrigued by Travis’s ability to read after images of an object’s history, and was disappointed that it wasn’t explored or explained more. It was very very light magical realism. Also,

the idea of a charismatic cult leader works really well, and that he could lead a community to believe existential falsehoods is totally realistic. However, the whole thing being hypnosis was kind of a stretch. If it had been another bit of magical realism special ability thing, I would have liked it more and it would have mirrored Travis/Theo’s ability.

Overall, cool concept and setting, cool mystery, interesting characters—an entertaining listen. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Torture

shantastic_reads's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

Well constructed beautifully eerie atmosphere - I could clearly visualize Pastoral in all its lush greenery and creepy stillness. The multiple POVs were effective in building tension, revealing different pieces of information and letting the reader put it together, bit by bit. The plot takes some predictable and unrealistic turns, and I think Travis' special ability described at the outset of the book is an unnecessary trope that doesn't ultimately add much.  That said, I enjoyed this story and had a hard time putting it down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Pregnancy, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Medical trauma, Suicide, and Gun violence

anni_swanilda's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Suicide

gm_vak's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Violence, Ableism, Infidelity, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Torture, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, and Medical trauma

arinnash's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious

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

4.0

The last part of the book was a little bit rushed but overall I reallt enjoyed it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Gaslighting

Minor: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Torture

curatedsymposium's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Child death, Murder, Torture, Addiction, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, and Suicidal thoughts

beckyg1016's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

This book was not about what I thought it was about, but I sure enjoyed the ride!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Murder, Pregnancy, and Torture