Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

42 reviews

spoookycat's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Animal death, Violence, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Child death, Death, Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Gore, Addiction, Cursing, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Self harm, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

Moderate: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Ableism, and Rape

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Drug abuse

peppers_books's review against another edition

4.0

this book has one of the best lines i have ever read in a book, i will remember this for as long as i can:  "he was hideous-old, not to mention hideous. his great bald skull was a globe mapping an alien moon" i actually cackled out loud, and this gem happens on page four

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

shepherd's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? Yes

4.0

This was my Halloween read after reading reviews stating it was the scariest book people had ever read. Maybe I'm immune to being scared, because this did nothing for me in that aspect. I found the mentions/description of rape, child abuse, and pedophila disgusting. Did that scare me? No. 

I think I was expecting some horrifying blood sucking adventure of chaos and murder. Instead it was an energy vampire or some shit. 

The characters are fleshed out and Vic is ballsy and incredibly damaged, I dug that. Lou is amazing, enough said.

I did feel the entire novel was paced medium to slow. I should have expected that, given the family ties. The end was incredibly rushed after 650 pages. The finally chapter left me wondering how it even made sense. Lou was so absolutely in love with Vic, bit a couple months after she dies he's basically shaking up with the FBI agent? Excuse me, but no, that made absolutely no sense after spending 700 pages explaining how tied to each other these two characters are emotionally.

I likely will skip all other Hill books as they're too much like King, which is slow and superfluous.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

ranocchietto's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I enjoyed the novel, I particularly liked the well-rounded characters, how each had its distinctive "voice" and the descriptions matched their personalities.

The book deals with cycles of trauma, growing up and the loss of innocence, and how people close to us make a difference in our lives, it was quite moving at times.

I would say my main problem was with the pacing, it felt unfocused towards the last third, it would have benefited from fewer digressions. I also felt the tone towards the end didn't match the tension the author was probably going for, but it didn't really spoil the experience for me.

Do check the content warnings before reading, it can get a bit heavy. The fatphobic undertones made it quite uncomfortable for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Sexual assault, Gore, Child abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Death, Stalking, Domestic abuse, Rape, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Cancer, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Incest

melodyseestrees's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

1.75

Caution: There are animal deaths that get way more detail and time than the final deaths in the book.

You don't even see Vic die on page you just know she's gravely injured and then her son recollects that she died. Manx simply gets an engine to his chest. Hooper the dog gets hammered to near death and then ran over.

This book isn't so much horror as gore porn. It was a drag to push through from about 61% of the book on. One of the only fat characters gets a "happy ending" only once he becomes thin and goes to finish something saying he was told to when this wasn't ever shown to the reader.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Animal death, and Child abuse

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Kidnapping, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Body shaming

Minor: Antisemitism, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Infidelity, and Self harm

alohiel's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Rape

Minor: Drug use

latham9's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Murder, and Rape

mattotheratto's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Fatphobia

Minor: Infidelity

tieflingkisser's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Child death, Blood, Animal death, Violence, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Death, Death of parent, Cursing, Car accident, and Confinement

Moderate: Pedophilia, Gore, Drug abuse, Drug use, Domestic abuse, and Addiction

podanotherjessi's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Wow. I wish I had read this in December because walking into a store and hearing Christmas carols while I was in the middle of this would have been horrific. This definitely has some flaws; the story gets a little muddled at points. The choice to play with timelines was maybe a mistake. Definitely has the penchant of a lot of horror of leaning on sexual assault and child abuse for scaring the reader, but not too often. Vic is a great character, flaws and all. Wayne is good too. Lou left a little to be desired though. Manx, however, is a fantastic villain, all the more because he truly thinks that he's doing the right thing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Rape, and Mental illness