Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Within These Walls by Ania Ahlborn

11 reviews

mo0nsugar's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.25

She could have gone a little deeper with a lot of the concepts, but it was a good, fairly spooky read.
Wish we'd gotten a little more of an investigation to flesh out the cult stuff.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Infidelity

hauntedantiqueshop's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

2.75

I wanted to throw myself out of my window with this ending. Cue Kurt’s Turn (yes, it does have to be the Glee version) to play full blast because truly, all that work and what did it get me?! Ugh.

1. Echo was so insanely obvious and it made me want to bonk Lucas on the head with one of his own books. You’re a true crime writer, come on. And btw, fuck her mom. Whatabitch.

2. What was the significance of the deadline??? Guy was straight up like “yes this is the deadline DON’T ASK ABOUT IT”. Like, was it just “oh that’s the day he’s coming back but shh, it’s a secret he’ll never tell Lucas 🤫”?! 

3. Why did Halcomb want to impregnate someone just to kill the baby?? What was the point of going through all that just to kill the baby if there wasn’t a purpose? Was it a secret ceremony that the readers were supposed to make up a scene for? I don’t need everything spelled out for me but the significance of The Sacrament isn’t even typed. Genuinely felt like the reasoning was just miraculously left out of the book.

4. I love when someone talks about cult leaders as being handsome and charismatic and then we see them and they’re just NormalBob RoundPants. It’s always that way, they’re never anything special. And I’m to believe this guy is a a young Johnny Depp lookalike with magical powers without ever reading about it? Like you can say it all day long but that don’t make it true. We really aren’t shown the how and why of anything. It just happens. I can understand when it’s ghostly stuff because well, ghosts. But there was nothing in the flashbacks to allude to this man’s magical powers.

5. Fuck that ending. For multiple reasons. But mostly what was the point of Vee dying? It didn’t accomplish anything. I think it would have been better for Lucas to kill Echo and sacrifice himself to save Vee, Audra’s ghost (why was she missing?!) magically gets rid of Halcomb’s ghost, Vee mends her relationship with her mom, and eventually finishes her dad’s book for him when she grows up. Dedicating it to Lucas and Audra. Like that cheesy ending would have been better than what we got.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicide, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Infidelity, Misogyny, and Sexual assault

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Blood

aubzilla's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

ghostblush's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

killmoore_'s review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

We've got cults. Weve got heartbreak. Weve got moody ass teenagers. We've got murder. We've got possession. We've got an almost 5 star book. 

Ania did an amazing job capturing the world through the different perspectives of this book. Lucas, the brooding, troubled father who is lost in his attempt to resurrect himself in the eyes of his family. Vee, a tragic tween desperate for connection, and Audra - a textbook case of depression and isolation, urgently seeking validation and a family to call her own.

The characters were rich. The story telling was chilling. The ending was abrupt and left you wanting more. I loved this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

daria_morgendorffer's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

Wow. My head is still spinning. I really enjoyed this book. While I had a hard time getting engaged at first, the slow burn paid off as the story progressed. I didn’t love Lucas’ character and found him irritating, but a good book is supposed to evoke strong emotion, right? The book leaves some unanswered questions, but I like a book that makes you think about it long after you read the last page. This is my first Ania Ahlborn book and I can’t wait to read more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

patchworkwitch's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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: Child death and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Pregnancy

vminton706's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I feel like I would have loved this book a lot more if not for the repetitiveness and general spoon fed plot. This is my first fiction book dealing with cults and I was honestly really into it. Ania is quickly becoming an author I’d recommend to anyone wanting to get into horror.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content

_bxllxe_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

2.0

This was an extremely boring haunted house/cult/ghost tale. The length didn’t make sense, seeing as almost nothing happened. The ending was predictable, cliche, YAWN. I’m afraid this is the straw that broke the camel’s back; I wish Ania Ahlborn success, but I won’t be picking up any more of her books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Suicide, and Murder

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Blood, Car accident, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

kaitlinlovesbooks's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, and Pregnancy