Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology by Shane Hawk, Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.

9 reviews

bkwrm1317's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I generally don’t enjoy short stories, but do like anthologies a bit more sometimes. I found so many new authors whose work I want to read here and thoroughly enjoyed near all of these dark fiction short stories. 

Please do note CWs as there are a number to be aware of, and that shift from story to story. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Pedophilia, Body horror, Colonisation, Racism, Abandonment, and Torture

asurasantosha's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Rape, Child abuse, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Racism, Stalking, Abortion, Animal death, Cannibalism, Hate crime, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Blood, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, and Violence

kellymacbrown's review against another edition

Wasn’t what I was expected. Just crossed some personal lines for me. Made me uncomfortable in ways that seemed to have no real purpose. Definitely dark. Loved the first story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Abortion, Gore, Murder, Rape, Racism, Physical abuse, and Abandonment

cadence99's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I really enjoyed this fantastic Anthology. Many stories were deeply disconcerting, and had me jumpy and on edge after some late night reading. Some of my favorites were White Hills, Scariest. Story. Ever. and Eulogy for A Brother, Resurrected (this one in particular was my favorite, and I look forward to reading more from the author!)- I’d highly recommend this to anyone looking for thoughtful, well crafted horror that packs a punch

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Ableism, Abandonment, Abortion, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Gore, Physical abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Addiction, Chronic illness, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Violence, Racism, Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Vomit

tshaff's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Abandonment, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Racial slurs, Vomit, Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Cannibalism, Body horror, Blood, Murder, Torture, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Hate crime, Gore, and Racism

ingridjones's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Violence, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Murder, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Abandonment, Torture, Religious bigotry, Racism, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, and Colonisation

klb77's review against another edition

Started as good spooky stories and social commentary that I THOROUGHLY enjoyed but then pretty immediately devolved into descriptions of rape, sexual coercion, a nonconsensual forced abortion, child abuse, child abandonment, and child torture. Be aware that there are also graphic needle and syringe scenes which affected me very physically. Those are not spooky stories and absolutely not what I signed up for. 



The fact that content like that is presented without content warnings at any point? or a general note at the beginning? They’re topics I can handle in small bites but not as surprises and not constantly and ideally not without justice. Maybe they get lighter or change but I’m not interested in finding out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Alcoholism, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Stalking, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Ableism, Sexual violence, Torture, Child death, Child abuse, Classism, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Medical trauma, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Animal cruelty

danimacuk's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Blood, Xenophobia, Violence, Torture, Racism, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Rape, Abandonment, Animal death, and Grief

laurareads87's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I was very excited to read Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology, and it has absolutely lived up to expectations.  The collection is wide ranging, and diverse in terms of both the themes the stories explore and their styles, moods, and approaches to horror.  Inevitably, as with any anthology, I preferred some stories over others.  I was drawn to this collection as it contains several authors whose works I've previously enjoyed, and I finish it with quite a few authors who are new to me but whom I hope to read more from. 

Content warnings - there are a lot of them: Violence, murder, death, torture, sexual violence, rape, gun violence, domestic violence, child abuse, child neglect, injury detail, xenophobia, racism, colonialism, misogyny, sexism, sexual harassment, gore, body horror, animal cruelty, animal death, and probably more.  There is some very difficult to read content in this collection.

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada & NetGalley for providing an ARC for me to review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Colonisation, Rape, Gun violence, Death, Torture, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Murder, Racism, Abandonment, Sexism, and Body horror