Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes

12 reviews

booksviamia's review

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing

emilyatoz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Grief, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Cursing, Terminal illness, and Violence

skywardstorytelling's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

3.75

Pros: Very creepy. There were a lot of little details that all coalesced to create the horror, which was very effective to maintain tension. The novel covers a lot of good points re: mental health and dealing with trauma, using horror as a lens to talk about these things. The Big Bad was quite nightmarish and a well-conceived blend of a couple of sci-fi horror tropes.

Cons: Unlike Dead Silence, I felt as though this narrative didn't have a lot of force behind it. The stakes felt lower, despite being objectively higher - the foundations for the shock at the plot reveals and rooting for the characters were not as well laid here. I found Ophelia a frustrating protagonist - she is ineffectual at the best of times, which made her denouement feel almost out of character. The plot was more amorphous and I had a lot of questions left by the end of the novel, making some of the major scenes feel more like set dressing for shock value rather than major plot points. I also disliked the implied romance between Ophelia and Ethan - it follows a disappointly generic romance novel arc and yet has no real payoff. It seems like it was the only way the author could think of to get Ophelia to care about Ethan, even though their conversations were good setup for mutual respect and trust without lingering on the potential of "more" that we never see played out.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

tales_told_in_gold's review

adventurous dark tense slow-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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness

Minor: Cursing

puntifexmaximus's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

Starts slow

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

lbelow's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense

3.75

Ironically, the only reason I read this book to the end is because the author isn't very good at building the tension. I'm not a horror reader, so I liked that this felt more like a mystery than a horror book. I loved the interweaving of the main character's traumatic past with the present narrative. I found that this interplay really helped to ground me in the character. I also liked all the thought that went into the world building—the corporations, the psychological ramifications of space travel, the side effects of cold sleep, etc. All these little details really made the world come to life! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Murder

anarmandameg's review

dark 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

4.0

Ew.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Dementia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

machenn's review

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

barometz's review

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

Definitely a slow start, slowed down further by the amount of time that Ophelia spends mooning over Severin*. At almost no point could I take her seriously as a medical professional. But once the horror kicked off, I was still totally sucked in. Ultimately, I wished we could have had more time with

the alien entity

before the book ended.

*I think I jokingly whined to a friend who was also reading this book that it was too heterosexual for me, but it did make me very glad to see queer people included even if just as background characters. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Self harm, and Death of parent

caseythereader's review

dark emotional funny sad tense medium-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

Thanks to Tor Nightfire for the free copy of this book.

 - Whew, GHOST STATION had me on the edge of my seat. Space horror is a new favorite genre for me.
- I loved the setup of this world. There was just enough to make it feel real without getting bogged down in the details of the corporate and social politics. I’d totally read more books set in this universe.
- The threat in this story was deeply terrifying, and I was genuinely right there with the characters as they tried to think their way out of the situation. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail