Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix

32 reviews

thesupermassive's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

top 10 books to accompany Ghost's entire discography

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, and Stalking

Moderate: Gore and Sexual assault

Minor: Car accident

horrorhayleigh'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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Addiction, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, Grief, Gore, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, and Car accident

ohsunnyaa's review

adventurous dark 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Gore, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual assault and Misogyny

Minor: Vomit and Drug use

cinderrunner's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

4.25

It is honestly impressive how metal, in essence not even just subject matter, this book is. I will admit, i wasn't overly impressed when i first started. I felt like it was taking too long to actually get anywhere. The plot doesnt really get rolling or exciting til maybe halfway through. I felt myself wishing Hendrix spent more time on them as a band and developed their connection a little better so their relationships had more omph. But the longer I read, the more the plot revealed, the more into it I got. Specifically around page 182 (in the edition I own) Kris starts playing guitar with a girl on the street and she talks about why she plays and the things that drive her. I read that passage and wanted to start snapping like i was at a poetry reading. If you are an artist of any kind, someone who really gets the drive to create for the sake of art not fame or money, the themes in this book are gonna hit home. Definitely recommend for you. Especially if youre an artist who is in alt subculture. I've only read 3 Hendrix books so far and can only recall the plot of this one and Final Girl Support Group enough to comment on them. But something I don't think people give Hendrix enough credit for his the social commentary and psychology behind some of these books. I get its easy to look past it with the camp factors and horror elements. Yet, its a really powerful part of the books when you notice it and it keeps making me rate them higher than i expect to. We Sold Our Souls would have been a 3 star read until the themes around society, its ambivalence to suffering, our obsession with shallow crap that doesnt matter, our selfishness, our obsession with treating the famous like gods, etc started becoming clearer to me. I love the full circle moment of ending on Melanie the way the book opens on Kris. Really wraps up the overall message of the book incredibly well. CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR THIS ONE PLEASE! ESPECIALLY IF SA IS A TRIGGER FOR YOU. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Car accident, Confinement, Excrement, Violence, Vomit, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, and Stalking

maybephasing's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Sexism, Misogyny, Drug abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: Addiction, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent

comrademolly's review against another edition

dark funny tense 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Body horror, Drug abuse, and Sexual harassment

chezler24's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.0

A story of never giving up, reigniting passion, and finishing what you've started.  Hendrix does it again by weaving an easy-to-read horror/thriller which also serves as an homage to heavy metal and rock. Throughout the book, we follow Kris Pulaski as she slowly realizes what truly led to the demise of her band and the larger powers at play behind the music industry and the world at large. Kris goes on a journey to come face to face with the man she blames for the worst event in her life that made her fall short of glory; however, she realizes soon that he isn't the real mastermind behind everything that happened to her. The conspiracy theory notes didn't always hit for me, but the odes to metal and the idea of music telling a story larger than itself kept me glued to the page.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Suicide, and Gore

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Drug use, and Mental illness

Minor: Forced institutionalization

missmali's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Gore, Violence, Blood, and Forced institutionalization

socialpsysteph's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

I have loved every Grady Hendrix book that I have picked up so I was really excited for this one because the mix of heavy metal and demons sounded like a good time. This was just as weird, and gross, and fun as I thought it would be. If you are hoping for answers or for an ending that gets all tied up in a bow, you're in the wrong place but if you want some weird, creepy stuff, pick this one up. 

This book counts for Popsugar 2022 for a book about a band or musical group, for r/Fantasy 2022 Bingo for a stand alone, and for Bookoplathon September 2022 for a book with people on the cover.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Car accident, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Blood, Addiction, and Suicide

Moderate: Violence and Drug use

odrib's review

adventurous dark funny fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Gun violence, Death, Blood, Excrement, and Gore

Moderate: Confinement, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Alcohol, Medical content, and Addiction