Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell

20 reviews

clovetra's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

this was such a cute story!!!!!! somehow giving both cottagecore lesbians & industrial revolution ye-olde vibes. 
shesheshen was such a delight to read about. lowkey love how she struggled with human civilisation & narrated weird ass shit humans do 💀 i also liked her formal way of speaking, it was super endearing. homily was such a girlboss too! esp in the ending! i was worried for where she was going but thank god this book had a happy ending (kind of... depends how u look at it).
i also loved the ridiculous amount of rep. seamless nonbinary characters? check. unapologetic sapphic love? check. lovely atmosphere? check. super interesting premise? check. super funny dialogue? check. unpredictable story that kept me (mostly) gripped? check! but, as much as i had fun reading this, i do find there are a couple of things holding me back from adoring this story.
a) the explanations of how the "wyrms" work was super hard for me to visualise & grasp. ive read fantasy & supernatural books before, but i found it incredibly difficult to actually understand what was trying to be depicted. like i could never tell what shesheshen really looked like? that may have been the point, idk. all i know is i had no idea how to picture her form. i kind of imagined her like oobleck, where she hardens up when she wants & is liquid at other times. 
b) the "plot twist" that hits you like 2/3s into the book came out of nowhere. im either a super observant reader or a complete blubbering idiot. but i did not see this coming. i was looking for something like what happened, as i just had a gut feeling there'd be a "plot twist" surrounding the mythicality of this book but what actually happened felt like it came out of left field. honestly i dont think i liked it? like i liked how the story was prior, and the plot twist kinda fell flat for me
c) it takes WAY too long for shit to start getting good. like i was only properly interested like. >50% into this. the beginning either needed more worldbuilding or idk something else because it took a while for this to get going.
d) i kinda was attached to shesheshen but i also kind of... didnt care about any of the characters. they all kind of felt one-dimensional, esp homily's family. i also think homily herself was a tad one-dimensional which sucked because i really liked her set-up!!! there was so much more that couldve been done with her!!!
e) the ending was weird??? it felt like an epilogue (hah... get it...) but idk it felt unecessary!! it shouldve been literally just the last chapter or something similar. it was a cute ending i will admit, but it also just made the pacing slam to a halt, from an adventure-esque story to a slice of life story.
this book had so much going for it & i so desperately wanted to love it!! like bro theres a (lowkey) ace relationship, lesbian love where one person is (yet again, lowkey) genderfluid, super interesting plot, classic "monster learns to love" trope that i adore!! i just found with all the positives this book has going for it, such as its humour & intriguing plot, it is a letdown in some other places </3
i still would say i liked this book! i didnt hate it, not at all! it just wasnt something i loved, and you know what? thats ok.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Death, Murder, Death of parent, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Excrement, Classism, Body horror, Abandonment, Gaslighting, and Physical abuse

Minor: War, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Incest

pashpunk7's review against another edition

dark hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Physical abuse

znvisser's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

This was kind of gross but also sweet and interesting. Shesheshen is fun! And a monster, but she is quite a social one (although she wouldn’t agree); she knows precisely how to use words with humans, evading truth without disturbing the conversation had by them. At several moments she is even surprisingly more human and better at recognising humanity than actual people. The story was more adventurous than I anticipated, which was great because the romance took a while to take hold. I enjoyed this!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Animal cruelty, Murder, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

woolerys's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.5

This monster romance was a mix of funny, harrowing, and touching, as a monster romance should be! Mild spoiler for queer rep:

both the protagonist (the monster) and her human love interest are ace!

There’s a strong theme of “humans are the real monsters” which… could have been more subtle, but at least the overtness read as a stylistic choice and not just blundering. The villains are increasingly absurd. The plot kept me engaged and frequently surprised. Shesheshen, our protagonist, is wonderfully likable and disgusting at the same time. The ending wasn’t as strong as I’d hoped, but it was… interesting, ha. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, Violence, and Abortion

temperamentalprotagonist's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Murder, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Body horror, and Child death

Moderate: Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Homophobia

sgrunwald96's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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? It's complicated

5.0

Deeply surprised by this one. Elements of old fairytales, classic kids stories, gory body horror, crazy monster design, quiet romance, and family issues somehow come together in a truly wholesome story? I had so much fun, and really loved the monster in all her iterations. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Gore, and Blood

Moderate: Death of parent, Bullying, Grief, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse

terriaminute's review against another edition

dark emotional lighthearted medium-paced

5.0

I took my time reading this novel, because the author has a clever way with words and I didn't want to miss anything. :) 

If you've ever felt that monsters get a bad rap, this novel is for you! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Bullying, Death of parent, Child death, and Violence

snazzy10101's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder, Body horror, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

abookwormspov's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

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

5.0

This was an absolute joy to read! Love me an asexual blob girlfriend

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Death, Blood, Grief, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Cannibalism, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Violence, Stalking, Torture, and War

tracysbookbalderdash's review against another edition

dark funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Excrement, Death of parent, Death, Gore, Lesbophobia, and Emotional abuse