Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes

18 reviews

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

theebster's review

dark mysterious 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

Deliciously creepy. Delivered on my expectations after loving Dead Silence! Really enjoyed the tension and unreliable narration in this one. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Blood, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

rowander's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Violence

babyfacedoldsoul's review against another edition

I kept reading a couple chapters, putting it aside for a few weeks, reading a couple more chapters. It didn't really pick up my interest though I think Barnes has a strong writing style. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse

hellavaral's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Murder

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

maregred's review

adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Suicide, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Death of parent, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Alcohol

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

unboxedjack's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail