Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Angel of Indian Lake by Stephen Graham Jones

4 reviews

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Cursing, Gun violence, Confinement, Gore, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Torture, Classism, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, Rape, and Self harm

catsandbookstacks's review against another edition

3.0

*Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for the eARC and physical ARC.* 

Book three of the Indian Lake Trilogy pulls no punches with the esoteric horror movie references and elaborate deaths. I love Jade in My Heart Is a Chainsaw and Don't Fear the Reaper, so I had really high hopes for the final installment.

The first 30% had me riveted but then fell flat. With the change of POV between all the books, the first person point of view in this ended up being my least favourite. Jade wasn't back to her fever dream dialogue of book one but she just couldn't keep my attention with the meandering. There ended up being too many out of nowhere threads to wrap up and I lost my sense of caring. I don't know how I managed to be bored with chainsaws, bears, and "Chucky" but it happened.

Happy to have read and finished the trilogy, but I think I'll be imagining that it's only a duology.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Blood, Child death, Gore, Drug use, Murder, Animal death, Grief, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Medical content, Mental illness, Racism, Kidnapping, and Self harm

Minor: Ableism, Colonisation, Forced institutionalization, Rape, and Sexual assault

henrygravesprince's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Oh, Jenny, Jennifer, J.D., Jade.

I’m seriously starting to question if it’s possible for SGJ to bite off more than he can chew, because you would think with all of the things he’s attempting to do in this book, that if he could, it would be now. But instead, this book succeeds in being jam-packed to the gills with ideas, visceral gore, gut-wrenching tragedy and the brutal beauty of horror, and tying up each of the loose ends from the previous installments, weaving all of the thematic threads into one, without being off any worse for it. It falls in the middle of the pacing of the first and second books, full of action from the get-go without feeling rushed or bogged down. While the second book was about cycles, this book is about putting an end to them. It brings a parallel between the ways Jade’s parents failed her

—her father’s abuse, her mother’s inaction—

and shows us the snap in that cycle of harm,

shows us instead a dutiful, loving father and a mother who will go to the ends of earth to do right by her daughter in Letha and Banner

. This book was dedicated to Jason Voorhees, and I think I can see why: the love and fury of Pamela Voorhees sings through this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, and Child abuse

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore

Minor: Ableism, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, and Forced institutionalization

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Body horror, Gun violence, Murder, Death, Child death, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Grief

Moderate: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Racism, Medical content, Mental illness, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Classism, Torture, and Animal death

Minor: Alcoholism, Rape, Genocide, Sexual content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pedophilia, Car accident, Excrement, Alcohol, Confinement, Sexual assault, Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Suicide, Abandonment, and Ableism