Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Echo by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

23 reviews

aromarrie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

“When I smile, you don’t have to be scared of me, okay?” 

if there was a top three category of books i cherish with my whole life, this one is definitely it. 

i loved nick & sam’s pov’s so much the first time and fell back in love with it again in this reread. and that bittersweet feeling pervaded throughout the whole story as always!! especially in all of sam’s terror disguised with wise cracks + nick’s awe of the mountains that veered into possessive territory. 

absolutely wicked atmosphere, with so much striking detail, it made the horror hit harder (that and the love story that tangled in between). the vivid details would be a hit or miss for some, all of its long monologues and such, but i adored it. 

i’ve always loved horror legends and sam’s childhood fascination with it made the events that unfolded feel even more surreal. 

this story has stuck with me since 2021, and the numb feeling i felt at the ending was as strong as ever in 2024 and i feel relieved. because it confirmed how much nick & sam’s story has still stuck with me, that i could relive that first moment of grief with them :’) 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Body horror, and Death

Moderate: Suicide, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence

Minor: Sexual content

jane_moriarty's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Suicide and Self harm

mformato's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.25

DNF at page 278 (outta 401).

I tried. I really did. I finally got to the point in the book where things we supposed to be ramping up but seeing how much more I had left I just don't care.

The good:
-The prologue was gripping and that is what kept me holding on for so long because I wanted to get to that point in the story where it actually happens.
-There was clear differences in the writing between the POV which made both characters feel unique.
-Clearly the author is passionate about mountaineering.
-There are interesting elements to the story.

But despite all of that, I find the main character annoying and it just has taken too long for anything to happen. So many chapters could have been cut and it wouldn't have affected (what I have read of) the story. The prologue was the best part so far because it gave us an eerie feeling, a mystery, and action right away. Even the mysteriousness of the first few chapters weren't that bad. But then it just drags. It's possible the rest isn't so bad but I am nearly 300 pages in and I am dreading reading this. I can only make a few pages at a time cause I just don't care.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Blood, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Medical trauma, Medical content, Murder, Suicide, and Violence

torismazarine's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

liltakeawaygirl's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Suicide

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child death, Alcohol, Child abuse, and Sexual content

cosmicpanda's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Medical content, Murder, Suicide attempt, Ableism, Blood, Death, Death of parent, and Gore

lady_bountiful's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide

svnsn's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

1.75

I did not enjoy this book. I feel like it dragged on for ages with some parts feeling endless and/or redundant, without adding anything to the story really,
I do wonder though, if the German edition, which I read, was somehow dragged out much longer than the english one for example - it has about 300 pages more I think.

The story jumps from here to there, it feels like it's lacking structure.
The first chapter was honestly the only time I was spooked, after that it was all sort of whatever.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Death

Minor: Child death

atalea's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Drug use, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Confinement, Death of parent, and Medical content

Minor: Car accident, Alcohol, and Child death

lorenalo95's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

2.5

 Echo was...eh. Ok in the beginning. A bit better in the middle. But the last act was very disappointing. I was disappointed by Nick's conclusion, with the Maudit's abilities, with the villagers, with the constant reference to H.P. Lovecraft, with Sam's whole thing, and with the ending. This book would have been a much better experience without Sam. If it was just Nick and him finding out about the history of the Maudit and what he could do to get rid of the spirit of the mountain, the book would no doubt be a 5 star read. No doubt. Instead, we get a jumbled mess of a story that entangles too many human stories in a man v. nature dynamic. It felt too long. Hell, Nick's manuscript would have been enough with just a few tweaks. The people in this book made this force of nature incredibly boring and eye-rolling. Maudit stopped being a scary thing in the third act and that's a damn shame because it was the only thing keeping me from completely giving up.

 But to be a little positive, one of the highlights of this book was the relationship between Sam and Nick, despite my utter hatred for Sam he was tolerable when he interacted with his partner. He made Nick vulnerable and gave him more depth other than the horror Nick was faced with. But the language Sam constantly used and how his narrative voice was written, was cringe inducing and highly annoying. It constantly took me out of the book, and I will never forgive him for that.
I was really looking forward to Echo, but I do have trust in Thomas Olde Heuvelt's writing abilities and will read his next book. When the POV wasn't on Sam, the writing was great--beautiful even. He is able to make me feel anxiety and fear and surprise. He is good at what he does, but Sam was his biggest mistake here. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Suicide