Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Une Fenêtre sur les ténèbres by Benjamin Peylet, Rachel Gillig

52 reviews

chronic_listener's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

Absolutely unputdownable, laced with magic and an eerie atmosphere, One Dark Window was a delightful surprise to me. 

I loved this so much more than I thought. The tension, the plot, the pacing, the characters, the setting, the romance, the writing - I was absolutely captivated.

More things I loved:

♥ the fmc not being a complete pushover 

♥ the magic system

♥ the tree family names

♥ the action scenes

♥ the tension between Elspeth and Ravyn

♥ the Nightmare

♥ the eerie rhymes 

This really felt like a movie in my head, the narrator did such an incredible job bringing this story to life. The writing was so horrifically great that I felt queasy at times because I could just imagine someone living inside my head and feel the pain of all the injuries like it was happening to me.

I can‘t wait to see where this story goes.

One thing I noticed: Considering our fmc seemed quite bright, it took her painfully long to realize what I feel like was quite obvious to the reader from early on.

The Nightmare being the Shepherd King and slowly becoming stronger the more she asks for his help.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying and Police brutality

ashdawn's review against another edition

dark 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

3.5

This one was good story telling and enjoyable to read, but I didn't really enjoy it enough to read the 2nd in the series. It does have amazing Gothic twisted fairy tale vibes, and I enjoyed the setting more than the characters themselves. 

The romance both contained some spicy scenes I wasn't expecting/didn't care about, and kind of fell flat. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Body horror, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Blood

maddiementions's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Cursing and Sexual content

kshertz's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

5.0

It’s been a while since I’ve lost sleep reading a book. But this magical world is filled with so many twists and turns. Elspeth and the nightmare are extremely engaging unreliable narrator and the love story has me hooked (not smutty tho only one love scene). But I immediately bought the second book and will begin reading immediately. It’s that good! 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

eedle_cacleberry's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, and Abandonment

chanlo1994's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense 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? Yes

5.0

What a refreshing read.

I'm so glad the author avoided very classic tropes, such as "you lied to me, and now that I know your deep dark secret, you're dead to me ".

Concepts such as understanding and forgiveness within a relationship makes this an enjoyable read, especially with the world building and magic system used. And Raven makes me swoon.... lol

I also really liked the different examples on the theme of consent, as most of them are not related to sex. Body autonomy, yes absolutely, but not sex. It examplifies that sex is not the only time where consent is needed.

Also, the writing is so beautiful??? Both the poetry and the narration. It's why I gave it a full 5 stars.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Drugging

kai256's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Torture, Vomit, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Terminal illness, and Death of parent

cinnawmoon's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

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

jaz_apples's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This was a very interesting book. It had possibly one of the most unique magic systems I’ve read so far as well as well written characters and interesting world building. It had several turns that I was not expecting but still fit the story nicely.

 It was a bit simpler in terms of writing style than what I prefer but I don’t think it detracted from the story being told in anyway worth mentioning besides as an offhand comment (such as this one).

I only have a two complaints: one being the character of Ione and her place in the story. It was difficult to understand her motives and reasoning behind her actions. I felt she was important to the story but in what way, I’m not sure. Something I am willing to overlook at the moment as it may resolve in the sequel. Nevertheless, I thought she was an interesting and complex character and would enjoy seeing things from her point of view. Another complaint I had was the romance in the book. It felt very rush and like there were scenes that we were missing. I was very excited for a fake dating troupe but was ultimately disappointed by the lack of development of the relationship between the main characters. Unfortunately I don’t know what the author could have done to remedy that, except for splitting the book in two in order to provide that content. While decently disappointing, I don’t believe that it detracted from the story severely, at least not enough for me to dnf the book. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content

bethann_coleates's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail