Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker

8 reviews

vael's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, Cannibalism, Cursing, Sexual harassment, Body horror, Murder, Death, and Gaslighting

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

ameliastebbing's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Torture, Gore, Blood, Murder, and Body horror

Moderate: Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Rape, Grief, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Vomit, Infidelity, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Alcohol, Medical content, and Addiction

jblago's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Very engaging for how short it is and dripping in macabre style. The creativity on display is also compelling and commendable even through the sort of morbid parts, of which there are plenty. 
The plot does feel somewhat predictable even if you haven’t seen the film adaptation but admittedly the general premise is just… cool. The sort of subtle suggestion that there is a larger “lore” is also very tantalizing. The writing is detailed enough and focuses on what I would consider the more interesting parts of a gruesome and uncomfortable story. 
Although, as not a big fan of sort of “erotic horror”, and the many possibilities that sub genre can lead to, there were some parts I liked less than other. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Addiction and Gaslighting

Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

perthalus's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

Will write review later.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Sexual content, Blood, Gore, Toxic relationship, Torture, Cannibalism, Death, Violence, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Vomit, Emotional abuse, and Cursing

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Incest

regaliaofchaos's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Confinement, Sexual content, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Murder, Cannibalism, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Incest, and Medical content

crossbun'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? Yes

5.0

Clive Barker is everything to me. All his work is so tender and human, so monstrous and twisted that one uplifts the other. They cannot be separated and once I start one of his books I simply cannot stop reading. I love how he takes characters that start out as rather boring and pathetic, outsiders, misfits, sad-sacks, (from the initial point of view), and as the story progresses, elevates them to hero status simply by letting them say that they have had ENOUGH. Clive Barker is the champion of freaks and losers, he is the voice from the darkness that whispers "don't you want to go apeshit?" and reader and character alike scream a resounding yes and then he says "ok babe go for it, you have everything to be scared of and nothing to lose" and they claw their way to liberation through the most perverse and repulsively delightful horror you've never dreamed. 

This is a fantastic introduction to his work, super fast read and plenty disturbing without delving into some of the other Really Nasty Stuff he writes about in his other works like Coldheart Canyon (also so good but YIKES!!!)

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Gaslighting and Infidelity

Minor: Vomit

jenniferlynnkrohn's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Vomit, and Violence

Moderate: Cannibalism