Reviews tagging 'War'

The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling

43 reviews

alxjasper's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A beautifully written gothic horror. Some plot points were prredictable but the sense of tension and horror was well maintained throughout.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Medical trauma, Body horror, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy

Minor: Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, War, Vomit, Violence, Self harm, and Gaslighting

huetepl's review

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma and Medical content

Moderate: Child death, War, and Death

saurahsaurus's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I really enjoyed this book until about 4/5 of the way through, when it delved into

the details of Jane’s magic rituals and mathematical theories.

Until that point, the book thoroughly held my interest and the pacing felt well-suited to the plot. My interest really dipped during the 80-86% part of the book, but did gradually return after that.

The ending was layered, a bit surprising, and intriguing.

It wasn’t a true happy ending, but it was mostly hopeful.

I felt that the ending redeemed the book overall. The main characters and their relationship were compelling, and I found myself really rooting for them.  I especially loved that Jane’s autism is portrayed so lovingly and as the superpower that it is. There isn’t nearly enough autism representation in literature, and the horror genre is no exception, so Jane is a breath of fresh air. (Jane’s autism is alluded to—and not directly described, but the author confirmed this fact!)

I may not revisit this book, but I’d happily read more work from this author!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Blood, Miscarriage, Gore, Body horror, Death, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Grief, Terminal illness, Self harm, Child death, Death of parent, and Drug use

Minor: Vomit, War, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Abandonment, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Classism, and Sexual content

des_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use and Body horror

Minor: War

simone_elizabeth's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

Oh the horror of loving and being loved!!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child death, Murder, Torture, Drug use, Medical trauma, Blood, Body horror, Gore, and Miscarriage

Moderate: War, Abandonment, and Confinement

flordemaga's review

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This took me a really long time to read by no fault of the book itself, I just literally physically lost the book for like a month.

I will say: at first it felt a bit too much like Crimson Peak, which I know was intentional, but I wanted more variety. And it took a bit too long to get to the action that felt like anything.
But I like the character of Jane Lawrence herself a lot. I like that she's autistic and just is. I also really like the descriptions of the gore and medical stuff and blood. Very visceral without being excessive, self-serving, or unnecessary.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Death, Blood, and Gore

Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, and Terminal illness

Minor: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and War

oliviaburley's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Thoroughly enjoyed the gothic horror elements, could not for the life of me understand why Jane was risking it all for this man she barely knew. I wish it was revealed earlier that her adopted family skipped town so she was essentially stuck with the manor, having no home to go back to would have been a better motivation to all in with the crazy than the insta-love for the good doctor after one night together.

It got a little meta and hard to follow towards the end but I enjoyed it, great Halloween read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, Death of parent, Death, Blood, Gore, Body horror, and War

mar's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

this was kinda underwhelming ngl :'( though it was neat to read a gothic horror with an autistic protagonist

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Miscarriage, Gore, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Confinement and Gaslighting

Minor: Death of parent, Sexual content, and War

illuminatedspace'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? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Abortion, Grief, Murder, Confinement, Death, Medical content, Pregnancy, Self harm, Torture, Medical trauma, and Violence

Moderate: War and Gaslighting

Minor: Drug use

tkhenry99's review

3.25

certainly not the best gothic horror out there, but not bad. jane’s whole “i want to get married to ensure my independence” thing is pretty much immediately abandoned. she literally has one conversation with augustine and suddenly feels like she knows him and falls in love. their relationship wasn’t at all convincing, which made jane’s motivations for all her actions really hard to understand. the entire book takes place over the course of, like, 2-3 weeks? and just couldn’t get behind their relationship at all. the plot twist was pretty cliche, but the ending was alright overall. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Grief and Drug use

Minor: War