Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker

54 reviews

sarah984's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? No

3.0

This book was fine, but overall it was disappointing to me. The characters all felt very one note and unrealistic (Julia's actions were at least interesting but her reasons for doing them were pretty stupid), aside from

Julia's murders

the gore almost all takes place off-page or is barely described (why else am I reading this?) and the prose was so overwrought and goofy.

There is a part near the end where Barker wants to convey that a dead character is possessed by one of the cenobites so that character turns to Kirsty and essentially just says, "I'm a cenobite!"

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Drug use, Excrement, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Self harm, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

queenkath32's review

dark tense

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Body horror, Sexual content, Blood, Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

apollo0325's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75

A really solid introduction to the world of Clive Barker’s works and of course a stellar entry of one of horror’s most iconic characters: the Cenobites.

I’ve never read any of Barker’s works, but I enjoy the Hellraiser movies and wanted to read this novella since this was their introduction. It was gross, alarming, and fun (in the sense of watching a horror movie. This was not a fun experience for our characters lmao). Also a quick read! It really put you in this story fast and got the ball rolling almost immediately.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Blood, Torture, Murder, Death, and Body horror

Moderate: Vomit and Sexual harassment

booksandcoffeewithlexi's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

mothstrand's review

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Body horror, Gore, Murder, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual assault, and Rape

luigimamizer's review

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Death, Murder, Torture, Body horror, Blood, and Gore

Minor: Rape

bugshugs's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Sexual assault, Rape, Body horror, Cursing, Murder, and Gore

jamieleepilk's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Gore, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Death, Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence

twislerguy's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book is dark and I couldn’t put it down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Gore, Death, Blood, Body horror, Rape, Drug abuse, Murder, Sexual content, Torture, and Violence

beeping_librarian's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Blood, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Sexual assault