Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

153 reviews

nlord's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

1.25

Miserable & unpleasant.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, and Child death

Moderate: Rape, Suicide, and Torture

jennramsdell's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective medium-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

5.0

This story is sweeping, creating an entire world and mythology you have to piece together. I really enjoyed how Hawkins laid out information bit by bit for you to pick up, and how gory and descriptive his writing is. Brutal at times, hopeful at times too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and War

philomathean's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Rape, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Car accident

evandaniel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

I don’t really even know how to describe this. Recommend for fans of Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, and Terry Pratchett who aren’t sensitive to violence.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Minor: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

amelyn19's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

istenerson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Excellent story - However, do not need to read again due to the aggressive explicit content. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

azurae's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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? Yes

1.5

While I have mixed feelings about this book, I overall really didn't enjoy it. The violence was overdone to the point of being gratuitous, the story didn't flow well, alternating between painfully slow and dropping large storyline bombs quickly, and so many loose ends left unexplored. Many of the characters are never developed at all, for example

Nearly half the librarians were barely mentioned, the enemies were nebulous and barely any info is given on them, many of the mysteries brought up left unexplained etc

The "oh father was the hero all along and had to horrifically torture these kids to make a god, and planned everything out behind the scenes, meaning Carolyn was just a pawn plodding to her destiny" ending was really unsatisfying. The sexual assault scenes were unnecessary and horrible to read, the story would've been better without them. The author himself in interviews has said that he debated heavily with himself on whether to include them, and I feel he made the wrong call. 
However, the writing was really gripping, the library concept was executed well, and I did enjoy some aspects of this book. Dresden & Naga were my favorite characters and the whole lion arc was meaningful and engrossing, albeit sad. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Excrement, and Alcohol

pansypantaloons's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Sexual assault and Death of parent

wistfulspirit's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Death of parent

meg_elyse's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Drug use, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, Excrement, Vomit, Death of parent, and War