Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

31 reviews

ahoyitsjoy's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense 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

4.0

Such a good book. Very confusing, but everything comes together well in the end. I found the librarians, and especially Carolyn, so fascinating. The book almost never explicitly tells you what's going on with her, but there's so much between what's said and unsaid that makes her one of the most interesting characters I've ever read about. The writing is so good at effortlessly moving between brutal violence and horror, absurd humor, and brief moments of quiet contemplation of what it means to be human. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Emotional abuse, Child death, Animal death, Blood, Violence, Child abuse, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, and Death

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Alcohol, Suicide, Mental illness, Rape, and Body horror

Minor: Genocide, Car accident, Vomit, Excrement, and War

kathryn0628's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Weird.  Very weird.  But also, very original.  I think with the fantasy genre (which I love,) it's common to see similar plots and characters from book to book/author to author.  The library at Mount Char is as far away from those similarities as you could possibly get.  This unlike any story I've ever read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Drug use, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, War, Child abuse, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Torture

tetrootz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Violence, Suicide, Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, Bullying, Body horror, War, Sexual content, Cursing, Chronic illness, Car accident, Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Death, Animal death, Blood, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Rape, Religious bigotry, Murder, Medical content, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Confinement, Child abuse, Child death, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Addiction, and Abandonment

abookwormspov's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

This was absolutely insane. Deeply unsettling. And it ruled.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Alcohol, Self harm, War, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Slavery, Toxic friendship, and Violence

random19379's review

funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Child death, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, Gore, Torture, Violence, Abandonment, Grief, Murder, Body horror, Medical content, Suicide, and War

Moderate: Rape and Incest

jodar's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny sad 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? It's complicated

3.75

This is a fantasy novel with a strong science fiction, metaphysical, multiple-universes bent (“there’s no such thing as magic”). Along the way it did feel rather weird and the storyline a little disjointed, but by the end it’s clear why that is. What worried me for quite a while was what appeared to be extreme, gratuitous violence, especially the violence against children. But the rationale for the violence was explained well and is integral to the novel. A novelty to me was having a demiurge as a pivotal character.

I found the characters were well portrayed, the MC relatable (despite getting pretty extreme psychologically), the dialogue flowed naturally and the plot moved along at a moderate pace without bogging down. There’s even some nicely pitched humour, particularly aimed against the foibles and excesses of Americans. The story is well-grounded, too, even though at various times the reader is confronted by a wide-sweeping, multiple-time-and-space viewpoint. I kept wanting to pick up the book again each time, which is a good sign.

Themes that for me lifted this novel above a simple “fun read”: the dark side of power, especially power over others’ welfare and lives; friendship and authentic love; true versus apparent strength; the search for meaning; the ultimate mystery of existence.

An impressive first novel by the author. I’d be keen to read any sequel, as the ending hinted there may be.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Physical abuse, and Bullying

Moderate: Death of parent, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Suicide, Cursing, and Sexual assault

Minor: Car accident and Vomit

epruta's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I’ve never read any book like this. The concept is fascinating and leaves much to be explored. The only thing keeping me from a 5 star review is that it’s disturbing. Pretty much every content warning you can think of is in here. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Violence, Self harm, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Animal death, Physical abuse, Rape, Emotional abuse, Torture, Blood, Gore, Gun violence, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Religious bigotry

dana_naylor's review against another edition

fast-paced

5.0

Absolutely batshit insane.
I loved it.

Trigger warnings galore. The gore and torment is intense.
I doubt I’ll reread it, but it was a wild journey. Definitely not for everyone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Emotional abuse, Rape, Gore, Violence, Torture, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Murder, Death, Sexual assault, Animal death, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Self harm, Child death, Car accident, Suicide, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Sexual violence

nookandcrannyseattle's review

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

That was wild. I like how none of the "big twists" felt like "big twists" because the whole thing was so unhinged that I was prepared to take pretty much anything in stride. A bit like the characters themselves, I guess, which is a little unsettling. Also, this is the first book I've read in recent memory that has an epilogue that doesn't actively detract from the rest of the work. Unnecessary, but not unwelcome to revisit a favorite side character (albeit one I did not want to like as much as I did). 

I will say that this was GORY. Some scenes were very hard to read (see CW - rape, child murder, animal death) and I'm glad I was reading it in print so I could do some strategic skimming. So probably won't read again, but it was a spectacular one-off!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Excrement, Violence, Physical abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

onlyincursive's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

4.5

A wild ride from start to finish. This book is for the readers who grew up on stories about kids with powers (e.g. Animorphs, Percy Jackson) and who want the adult version. The type of book that I would recommend to everyone - if only the content warning list wasn’t so long!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Violence, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Torture, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Cursing, Rape, Drug abuse, Xenophobia, Car accident, War, Toxic friendship, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Misogyny, Bullying, Classism, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Islamophobia, and Pregnancy

This book is hard to warn for. Be especially aware that there is torture and murder of children

(many of whom are effectively immortal and experience this torture and murder multiple times)

, as well as a lot of animal death

(including many, many dogs)

.