Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

45 reviews

verbosevespertine's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, and Suicide

va1entine's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious 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

3.5

this book was a series of ups and downs. at some parts, i was hooked, unable to stop reading; at others, it was a chore to keep going. while i enjoyed the dedication to detail, the book felt too long somehow, though i don’t know what would’ve been cut. i do think the author did a decent job tying up loose ends at the conclusion of the book. 
i found jude hard to root for at times, and i didn’t care one way or another what happened to him. i rooted for marybeth solely because i wanted her to be happy. everything else was sort of a crapshoot. there were a few poignant moments, and i enjoyed the moments where marybeth and jude actually were talking about their feelings—you can see the traces of genuine connection and affection for one another. the characters were given stories intended to give them depth but the stories did not really show beyond when they were mentioned. overall, 3.5/5. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Suicide, and Gun violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Car accident, Pedophilia, and Toxic relationship

gellyreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.0

I really loved this novel's depiction and imagery of ghosts (the blackout eyes is super haunting and creepy). I also found one scene in this to be fairly disturbing and will make me hesitate to recommend this to anyone. Not to mention the other dark material that is covered in this book.

This book heavily features child abuse, molestation, grooming, age gap relationships, and the dark scene in question involves adults but a mix of sex and violence in a way that made me have to put the book down and walk away it was so disturbing

 
The ending both did and didn't feel desired, and the "familiars" idea I feel like could've been dealt with more. But I had a lot of fun reading this one and am excited to read more of Hill's work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Violence, Gore, Rape, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Sexual violence, Torture, Child abuse, Sexual content, and Gun violence

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Self harm, and Death of parent

fleural's review against another edition

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: Violence

Moderate: Incest and Child abuse

spines's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.75

This book reminded me a lot of Grady Hendrix's We Sold Our Souls, with the aging rockstar dealing with creepy occupt stuff and driving across the country. I really liked Marybeth and I found myself liking Jude even though I didn't want to.

The first third of the book is really creepy and atmospheric as the haunting gets worse by the day and fucks with their heads. The rest of the book is still good but it doesn't have that creepy horror vibe that I love. Overall a good read and very moreish, I wasn't able to put it down. I'm going to go read more Joe Hill

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Child abuse

goblinghost_39's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Child abuse, Gore, Suicide, Sexual assault, Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, and Murder

chris_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

2.75

The "man writing women" vibes were strong in this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Violence, Child abuse, and Gore

Moderate: Self harm, Pedophilia, Animal death, Incest, Mental illness, Gaslighting, and Misogyny

Minor: Murder, Adult/minor relationship, and Suicide

ctmy04's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual violence, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Child abuse

audioaxolotl's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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

Minor: Sexual content, Rape, Murder, Child abuse, Misogyny, and Physical abuse

elvenpanther's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-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

3.25

An interesting read, the end of the novel did tie everything together nicely. I wasn't a huge fan of the main character, Jude. While he had a little bit of character growth by the end, I felt he could have used a lot more. I didn't really get the sense that he fully healed and learned from his life's trauma. He treated the people in his life poorly and kept them at arm's length, but never came to a point of actually apologizing to them. 
Everyone has their own life traumas, but that doesn't excuse bad behavior towards others. It felt like Jude was given a pass on his mistreatment of others, simply because he was put through even more trauma. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Suicide, and Sexual assault