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katelynalice's review against another edition
- 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
2.75
Graphic: Eating disorder, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexism, Murder, Racism, Torture, Blood, Body horror, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Incest, Ableism, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Death, Rape, and Violence
ohlisaline's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
I didn't know much about the book going into it and when some of the themes of this book emerged, I felt very put-off. But that's on me for not checking TW's.
>SPOILER< Something that completely broke the tone of the novel for me, and felt borderline ridiculous, was the scene of Lori and Abby finally getting into the River Man's hut. The flaming footsteps, the pool of blood, the heavy metal guitar-playing old demon dude. It felt silly and didn't have an impact on me other than confusion.
Graphic: Sexual violence, Ableism, Incest, Rape, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Death, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Suicide, Torture, Sexism, Cursing, Self harm, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Murder, Body horror, Child abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Physical abuse, and Suicide attempt
nicesideburns's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A serial killer fangirl assigned with a task to obtain a memorabilia and hand over to the river man. She brings her handicapped sister along and what happens unfolds to a series of nightmares.
Over time your opinion of Lori changes and you truly see why she and Edmund connected so well. The way things unfolded still lingers in my mind especially near the end.
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Racial slurs, Violence, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Self harm, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Rape
readingwithbritney's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Incest, Death, Racial slurs, Violence, Sexual content, Rape, Racism, Eating disorder, Cursing, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Gore, Blood, and Body horror
zea_d_writing's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I went into this knowing it was an extreme horror novel: which means I knew that its sole purpose was to be horrific, vile, disgusting, sick, revolting, shocking purely to be shocking, and potentially even offensive. I knew it would likely delve into taboo topics, as these kinds of books often do.
And I wasn’t wrong.
This book wasn’t actually as graphic as I expected. Don’t get me wrong…there are absolutely very graphic, very disturbing, sickening scenes and themes depicted in this book. It just wasn’t as over the top as I expected given what I had heard about this book.
And I actually found the lore of this book really interesting and thought the storytelling itself was very effective.
But this book is absolutely disgusting, sick, and offensive.
I hated Lori, the main character. She’s vile in every way conceivable. Which is exactly how you’re supposed to feel about her - especially by the end.
This book features pretty severe racism and the fetishization of Asian women. It uses slurs (g slur) and describes very graphic violence and SA towards these groups. There is also severe blatant ableism (both in how the disabled character is depicted and how the other characters treat, talk to, and talk about the disabled character. The r slur is used more than once…as well as other derogatory terms.
The book features graphic incest and SA, murder, torture, dismemberment, violence and abuse, eating disorders, and a whole host of other triggers warnings.
Its dark. Its graphic. Its offensive. Its sick. I found the story itself weirdly interesting despite how twisted it was and the lore and worldbuilding were actually very intriguing.
I’m giving this three stars because it did what it intended to do and at no point was anything written within treated like it was supposed to be anywhere near normal or moral or okay. Its an extreme horror novel and everything and everyone within was entirely fucked up.
Graphic: Ableism, Eating disorder, Incest, Racism, Violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Body horror, Chronic illness, Gore, Grief, Racial slurs, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Blood, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexism, and Torture