Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Dead Girls Walking by Sami Ellis

6 reviews

shaunashares's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, and Blood

emily_mh's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Conceptually, this book had a lot going for it. A horror sleepaway camp located at the site of the murders of an imprisoned serial killer is already super compelling, yet Ellis elevates even this by incorporating a supernatural twist. For me though, the execution needed to be better.

My first problem was with the tense/POV combo, which was present/3rd person, which always reads weird to me. To make matters worse, there were TONS of grammatical errors where the tense switched to past and then back again, sometimes even in the same sentence. This lack of quality was disappointing.

My second problem was that the supernatural elements didn’t always make full sense to me, or were inconsistent, in part due to sometimes being explained in a slapdash manner. The whole story depends upon these elements, so it did leave the book feeling weaker in places.

By no means do I think this is a bad book, though. While the story took until about a third of the way through for its inciting incident to occur, which is not ideal for a thriller, I was hooked from then on in. I thought Ellis did well at balancing quieter character moments with tense “run for your lives” scenes. I also think this book delivered on its promise of being scary.

There was some interesting character-work too. I mean, the MC’s set-up is that she is returning to where she used to live to find the body of her mother, who was killed by her serial-killer father. Some moments in her journey needed more emotional weight, but overall I was really taken by the way that Temple was desperately seeking closure, and that she was resolute in her values throughout. Her character development regarding trusting in others was a touch rushed, but the circumstances were admittedly exceptional!

I don’t think I’d recommend this book to everyone, but if you’re looking for a supernatural horror that will hold you in suspense, then keep this on your radar!

Rep: Black lesbian MC with asthma

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence and Vomit

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Biphobia, Bullying, Confinement, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Police brutality, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Major: missing loved one Minor: loss of a loved one, imprisonment, insects, capital punishment, fainting, disordered eating

kajoreads's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The gore and body horror really delivered. The slasher vibes were on point. And if I was rating this based on that alone, it’d be 5 stars. Ellis did an incredible job making it all gross and unsettling.

This is more of a taste issue, but I did not particularly like the twist.

I’ve noticed I tend to dislike twists that feel like they undermine the premise.

 

I did enjoy Temple and her dad's relationship. It was a twisted, abusive one, but it felt real. The flashbacks were well implemented imo.

Overall, it’s a strong debut. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for this author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Ableism, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Medical content, and Cannibalism

courtneys_shelves's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia

This book is incredibly intense, as it covers topics of abuse and family curses. However, for this who can read it, it Carrie’s an ultimately hopeful message, and watching a hopeless character grow to realize that she does indeed have hope and support and is ultimately good is worth the read.

jennifermreads's review

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Received advanced reader copy from publisher. 

If asked what my least favorite genre was, I would say horror. I’m not even sure I’d call it “least favorite” as I would “least read.” I’m not sure I would have picked up Dead Girls Walking at a library or bookstore. After all, the promo material says it is for fans of the film franchise Friday the 13th and I do not watch horror films. But Abrams mailed me an ARC and that felt like a nudge to give horror another chance. {Note: See the danger in including other book or movie titles in promo material? I was leaning toward not reading because of the film reference!}

When I finished the ARC on February 22, my initial reaction was “Meh.” I wasn’t scared out of my skin. I wasn’t creeped out to the point of looking under my bed, peeking in my closet, and making sure all the doors and windows were locked. I’m not sure “enjoyed” is the correct word to describe what I experienced with Temple’s journey. But I was invested in her fight and curious about the outcome. 

Now, as I write my review two weeks later, I find that, pardon the pun, Temple and the rest of the Dead Girls are still haunting me. THAT is a sign of a good book! Because of spoilers, I cannot say what is sticking. Suffice it to say, that the outcome had me questioning judgments I’ve made in people and it has served as a reminder that there is often more to a person’s story than a headline or news story will share. 

It was refreshing to read a story set in an LGBTQIA camp (talk about stereotype horror setting! WHOA there is a reason that setting works!) with a cast of 100% LGBTQIA characters. The author states in her intro letter in the ARC that she “set out to write a Friday the 13th tribute, but this time all about Black girls.” The author has filled a void. And, my reader’s advisory senses are tingling: anyone who has read Tiffany D. Jackson and screamed “MORE!” needs to grab Dead Girls Walking and rejoice. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Vomit, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Police brutality, and Cannibalism

Verbatim from the notes on the title page verso of the ARC: STRONG PRESENCE OF: body fluids like blood and vomit, bones, branding, emotional and physical child abuse, death, fire, gore, hallucinations, murder, profanity, PTSD flashbacks of abuse and horrific situations, skeletons, violence, abuse in the name of religion. BRIEF MENTIONS OF: ableist language, bullying, cannibalism, recreational marijuana usage, gun violence, the occult, police brutality, suicidal ideation, supernatural interpretation of terminal illness, transphobia.

sophiareads_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings: murder, violence, gore, death of a parent, desecration of bodies, stalking, child abuse, fire/fire injury 

 

Temple, the daughter of an infamous serial killer, returns to the woods in which she was raised - the woods where her father's victims were discovered - hoping to find the truth of her mother's disappearance. But the woods, now a campsite, are still a site of multiple missing persons cases, and Temple soon finds herself investigating a possible copycat of her father's crimes. 

 

So, this was definitely different than I was expecting, but I think it was different for the better! Ellis definitely does a good job invoking the energy of a horror flick with this book - her writing sets the spooky atmosphere, and the descriptions of gore, while not my exact cup of tea, are definitely reminiscent of a slasher film. Going into this, I was definitely not expecting a paranormal kind of horror, but once this element is introduced, it works really well. Plot-wise, I think this is really great. It's full of twists and turns, and it's fun to see all of the various plot threads introduced throughout the book come together to create a cohesive narrative. My only issue with it, really, was that I wished we were given more information sooner, because frankly, I don't think I fully comprehended what was actually going on here until the 90% mark or something. I totally understand wanting that 'unfolding mystery' vibe with your book, but for a little too much of this book, I just felt a little too out of the loop, which didn't make for the best reading experience. That being said, totally possible that I'm just dumb and other people would totally have grasped everything earlier! And everything did totally come together - definitely a case of 'when it clicks, it CLICKS'. 

 

Still, I think plot was the strongest element here. I really wanted to like Temple as a character, but she sort of gave off 'not like other girls' vibes. (Like, come on, aren't we over calling other girls 'Barbie' as an insult?) Ultimately, I think her character arc was pretty good, but I did find it difficult to warm up to her. I'm really glad the book didn't have a romance though - I was worried it might and it SO didn't need one, so I was glad everyone was just bestie vibes only at the end. Also I really appreciated the discussion of the ethics of true crime buffs - we didn't get a super deep dive into the topic, but I really like what there was, and I thought it was great to include!

 

Huge thank you to NetGalley, Sami Ellis, and Amulet Books for the eARC! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Stalking