Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer

32 reviews

kirstylp's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Cannibalism, Death, and Body horror

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death

woodsybookworm's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

This book felt like I was reading an episode of Tales From The Crypt! 

I'm not usually a fan of a book that's opening chapter gives away the ending. How are we supposed to get invested in a story when we already know the dates of the main characters? But I stuck with it and wow did this book deliver! 

It's too bad this book is probably a standalone because I was left with a lot of unanswered questions but I still found it to be an enjoyable read overall.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Violence, Murder, Suicide, Alcoholism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, and Body horror

thiscryptidreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

I went into this story expecting a totally different scenario based on the synopsis. This was a surprise mix of haunting and hallucinations that slowly fill you with dread until the very end. Several other reviews said the ending was a surprise or didn't make sense but if you pay attention to the small details I think the story wraps up very nicely and makes complete sense for the narrative they're trying to tell. 

Cws: gore, body horror, violence, self harm, injury, blood, panic attacks, suicide, murder, death of a child, animal death, vomit, hallucinations, fire/ injury and death by fire, cannibalism. 

 You can find more of my reviews on all social platforms under the username ThisCryptidReads. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Vomit, Body horror, Death, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Animal death, and Child death

Spoilers: Does the dog (Slade) die? No. He runs off and is missing through the book and hallucinations cause Luke (his owner) to think he is dead. He is later found at the end of the book. The dog depicted in the book he mistakes Slade for was long dead and it's death is not described on page, simply apart of their hallucinations or inches of the ghosts in the woods.

clowngawd's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This book has some nauseating descriptions . If you are sensitive to intense descriptions of rot, insects or infections you may want to sit this one out. While I appreciate this stories ambiguity, I wish certain ideas were explored further. Despite its flaws, this was a compelling story of poison earth. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Murder, Body horror, Cannibalism, Gore, and Vomit

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Cursing, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Animal death, and Sexism

catspajamas15's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.0

First note: Does the dog die? No. But it definitely doesn’t feel like that through the book, so keep your wits up.
Overall, this was a fun read. Kind of a combination of The Ruins, The Descent and The Hunger.
Not super gory, not super scary but I had a good time.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Gore, Alcohol, Body horror, Animal death, and Blood

poisoned_icecream's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Four hikers go to an isolated location, not expecting the horrors awaiting them. Clay wants to explore the valley for a dissertation, Dylan is a climber and she wants to be the first to climb the wall, Luke is her boyfriend, and Sylvia is a botanist. Luke also has the not-so-bright idea to bring his dog Slade, and ignores the signs of distress Slade expresses when they all arrive at the valley. There are also brief chapters of past events that occured in the valley that emphasize how hostile it is. Even if this is fictional, it can still serve as yet another example of how nature isn't meant to be conquered or controlled.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Murder, Violence, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Vomit, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore

birdieex's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I'm not a rock climber by any means, so this wasn't a book I could relate to in that way, but I still enjoyed it, even when the lingo flew over my head.

The spook factor deserves 2 stars at least. I'm a sucker for spooky places where people go and don't return or return absolutely traumatized. A trope I can never get enough of, even when we never figure out the mystery to why the environment is hostile. It's just that sense of danger and mystery!

The detail was absolutely engrossing. The description of the environment was gorgeous. The horror was written in a way that made me physically recoil and look away from the book in some cases. (Bugs! Bugs get me!) Every line about the forest was chilling.

I liked the opening telling us immediately that our characters die because it gave the whole journey a sense of dread. As I read, I was constantly attempting to pick up pieces of the puzzle and put it together. I'm also fond of sweary narration, especially if it showcases character personality, so the beginning was amusing to me.
(Examples: 

1. The very first line of this book is "Fucking finally". It adds spice to the character thoughts if they swear and you're adding that to your normal narration.
2. "He'd only managed to become a slightly above-average climber, never having the skills or luck to climb the hard shit-"
3. "So he'd spend the fall inside this cramped, cold-as-fuck, single-engine plane,"

I think you get the idea. It isn't overdone, but it's nicely peppered in there.)

However, as much as I enjoyed all of those elements, there are cons. 

One petty thing that nagged me was when Sylvia, who had a basic medical background, when assessing an ankle and wrist injury said it was "likely fractured, if not broken." Those are synonymous. Though, I'm putting that down to the fact her medical experience was limited to "an emergency first aid course" as she said.

Also why was Dylan's the only phone to get signal? Maybe I missed it, but it was like she was chosen. Is this simply because she was

final girl?

Possibly.

Not a con, but a spoiler alert for the dog living or dying for those who need to know before going in:

We are led to believe at first that the dog, Slade, is dead, but eventually is revealed to be alive.

Overall, thoroughly enjoyed the fear factor in this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Cursing, Gore, Death, Self harm, Suicide, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Vomit, Alcohol, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, and Medical content

Minor: Death of parent, Cannibalism, Colonisation, and Child death

Infant death for child death.

bigleebowski's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Finished this in one sitting on account of it being brisk to read through, and having a consistently tense pace. Predictable—especially given the artistic choice to have a cold open essentially telling us the fates of the main cast—but still entertaining to read. It’s a strong debut horror book, and one that will surely keep my eyes at attention for Kiefer’s next book. My only primarily point of critique, would be that the characters could have been fleshed out better and made to be a bit more relatable: I didn’t connect to any of the characters, and found one of them to have quite the drastic and unearned shift. 

I strongly recommend this to fans of Briardark, The Ruins, and maybe even a little bit of the Wrong Turn remake. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, and Body horror

Moderate: Animal death

wyntrrose's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I so felt The Ruins and The Descent movies in this book. Others have mentioned The Blair Witch as well but for me I didn't see it as much. This is book follows 4 friends. The main person Clay Foster who is doing this for his graduate, his fellow classmate Sylvia Burnett who is a graduate of native plants and geology, his good friend and rock climbing friend Dylan Prescott who just signed her first climbing deal with a company. Her boyfriend and climbing partner Luke Woodhaven and his dog Slade. The first chapter does go into descriptive details on everybody's body that was found. Missing though is Dylan and the dog Slade. Great gorey and supernatural story that'll keep you on your toes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Child death, Cannibalism, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Violence, Murder, Blood, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Torture

Slade does go missing within the 1st 24 hrs and they make you feel for the animal in several moments.. at the end the poor thing is scrawny and carrying a large bone but alive at the end. As an animal person I was worried and upset about what happened to him throughout and was kept throughout but not forgotten like I think others would have done since he's such a small side character and some just get forgotten.

ivorymusic82's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, and Vomit