Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge

14 reviews

ringomccoy's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Suicide, Violence, Body horror, Car accident, Child death, Death of parent, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

mfrisk's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Dark Harvest is a great spooky read that I’d definitely recommend folks read around Halloween but is also a fun read during other points of the year to get in the Halloween spirit.
 
This read captures the feeling of a creature feature and a vintage Halloween movie all in one and all of the small details really add up to you feeling immersed in this small town. 

I liked the different perspectives too though I wish we got more background on Kelly, her parents, as well as the starting of this tradition. For a novella this book does a good job of painting a picture so I can’t complain too much there were just some aspects I wanted more of and needed some clarity on. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Violence

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

kaitlouise94's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Gun violence, and Murder

sexytinatrainconductress's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Violence, Murder, and Suicide

kylasmv15's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Police brutality, Blood, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Car accident, Child abuse, and Child death

Minor: Confinement, Bullying, Cancer, and Death of parent

orizenda's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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? No

3.0

Read for Jordalines Spooky smart Bitch readathon. This was a fun Halloween read. It didn’t blow my mind, but I liked the inclusion of the second person narration. I’m a sucker for that stuff. I thought the little twist was good too

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

zw_books's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, Murder, Body horror, Car accident, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Police brutality

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Confinement

zachisreading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Dark Harvest is a book made for Halloween. A mysterious town, in the middle of nowhere that on the surface feels like any other Midwest farming center in the late 1960s. You have a theater, a school, and a church right in the middle of everything. You might be excused for believing the place to be very white bread and even a bit boring. Then you hear how the town locks up its teenaged boys for nearly a week leading up to Halloween without food. Then, Halloween night, the boys are sent out on the hunt. 

The book follows the hunt flashing between perspectives, eager to keep you off balance for the 169 pages of bizarre horror fiction. Mysteries are piled on mysteries, but the characters all only seem to want out. There will be twists and turns to take at breakneck speeds, but precious few answers as the book races towards the explosive climax. 

With all the racing, many elements of horror never really sink in until the book is over. By then the frights have lost much of their impact. The characters seem equally forgettable. It's not that what they went through isn't still capturing my mind, but that they all seem to blend together in a mixture of anger and despair, never really differentiating one person from another. They are not badly written. Our view of them is just limited to the point of uniformity. 

This uniformity also strikes in certain acts of obeisance that make you question the integrity of the story. The backstory, indeed, are the shaky stilts the majestic manor is built upon. Looking too closely at them could make you not want to go in. Yet the grand internal architecture and furnishings are well worth it. 

Even with its many flaws, Dark Harvest is the sort of book that could easily be closed after the last page, turned over, and read again. Definitely a Halloween staple. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Murder, Car accident, Body horror, Trafficking, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Gore, and Blood

Moderate: Classism, Kidnapping, Abandonment, and Child abuse

Minor: Gaslighting and Alcohol

louisegraveyard's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Gore, Gun violence, Grief, Suicide, Physical abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Violence, and Misogyny

Moderate: Cancer, Body shaming, and Fatphobia

ravenpuff's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Death of parent, Body horror, Child abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide

Moderate: Alcoholism and Car accident

Minor: Car accident, Classism, Kidnapping, Confinement, and Sexual harassment