Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling

98 reviews

aardwyrm's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.5

The secondary world element elevates the thing and frees up the story to play with all kinds of spooky occultist stuff without any concern for history (though some of that constructed history is... questionable, and doesn't serve much purpose; everyone deciding to collectively be atheist after a world war is a jarring note that fades into the background as the story goes on). The gothic mystery and tension building and inevitable descent into chaos are all well handled, though honestly I could never care all that much about Augustine, who comes across as a tedious drip at best. Scary and tight enough to be riveting while you read it, though, and the flaws come clear only on reflection. What more can you ask?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Self harm, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Medical trauma, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Medical content, Miscarriage, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Violence, and Suicidal thoughts

vita_zeta's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Body horror

Moderate: Drug use

Minor: War

branchlikeatree's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, and Death

Minor: Gaslighting

taratearex's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.0

Overall I really liked this book, a gothic ghost story with some horror and 

magic

- very much my style, but I'm glad I listened to the audiobook as the pacing was a bit all over the place. The first half seemed to fly by as the world was built and the mystery unknown, but the second half seemed to drag- even though it was interesting, it got a bit too bogged down in details- which at the same time is hard, because the details are also great at times! But then the twist happens like a flash and suddenly it's over and I was left feeling like I think I understand the twist, but I don't know if I could explain it :) The audiobook was great though, loved the narration. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, Child death, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Death of parent

acashton's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

Moderate: Drug use, Gore, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Death, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Child death

blindforest's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

2.5

this book tried to be a lot of things but didn't quite succeed at doing so. the latter half of the book felt a tad longer than it needed to be; and while the tone shift worked for me, the resolution didn't, so at the end i'm left considerably unsatisfied. a shame since i was greatly anticipating this read, but oh well

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Blood, and Medical content

emshep's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Drug use, Miscarriage, Death, Child death, and Body horror

scrubsandbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

A slow bumpy start, gets juicy around 30% through but the last couple of chapters end up reading like a non-stop fever dream. Great setting, beautiful prose, sometimes ended up long-winded, could have been a shorter book, tbh. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Drug use, Child death, and Miscarriage

anxiousnachos's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Medical content, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail

house_of_hannah's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

4.0

What a fresh take on the gothic horror genre. This book is definitely longer than it needs to be, as it does drag in the last 150 pages, but it is quite interesting, and left me guessing through the whole story. The summary gives nothing away, so I was surprised at some of the elements included.

One of the things I found odd about the book though, is that it doesn't take place in our world for some reason. The name of the country is Great Breltain, with very English sounding town names, so it was obvious what the area was based on. Just seemed like an uneeded change that actually took me out of the story whenever the country was mentioned.

This also isn't a book that you can just casually read and expect to understand everything. This thing is going to take some thought. There is even a chapter that is written in a purposefully confusing way, which I understand the intention behind it, but man did my head hurt a bit. I'm still not sure if I understand everything correctly.

This was close to being a five star read, but the things I've mentioned previously, plus some little things throughout the story, brought it down to a four for me. For example, I have never seen so many perfectly timed rain storms before in my life. There were just too many perfect coincidences for my taste.

However, I really enjoyed the writing, and I thought it brought to life the imagery so well. I feel like all the characters had value, and no one was a throw-away. The plot is well thought out, which I appreciate so freaking much. Jane is also a fantastic character, and if you're looking for a strong female protagonist who does not scream, "I'm not like other girls", then this book is for you !

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Confinement, Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Child death and Drug use

Minor: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Vomit, Abandonment, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Self harm, and War