Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Gone to See the River Man by Kristopher Triana

22 reviews

jesssicawho's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense 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

1.0

I’ve now proven that splatterpunk, extreme horror is not for me. I don’t understand how or why people like reading about the most depraved, disgusting, truly upsetting things you can imagine. I wish I had checked the trigger warnings before buying this because there are certain no-go areas for me (and this book crossed several lines). 

In addition, I can’t help but think there’s some (maybe) subconscious racism on display with the way the author writes the only black character. I understand regional dialects and slang but I’ve never heard an actual person speak in such a cartoonish way. 

I thought maybe the book would have a redeeming end, but it did not. There’s no hope, or even petty redemption (like if the “wronged” character rose up and took revenge). It feels like shock and horror for the sake of shock and horror. 

I’ll give it a star for the cool descriptions of the river and river man. By this point I was skimming to get to the end but there were some neat cosmic horror adjacent scenes but overall not worth the rest of the journey. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Death, Sexual assault, Child death, Rape, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Child abuse, Gore, Eating disorder, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Murder, Pedophilia, Self harm, and Sexual violence

moondoe's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Incest, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Blood, Gore, and Murder

lish02's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Eating disorder, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Death, Child abuse, Violence, Vomit, Mental illness, Child death, Ableism, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, and Gore

elderlyemo's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

Whoah - this one was a rollercoaster, lads. 

I can't remember how this book was recommended to me but when I sat down to read it, I did not anticipate what I was about to consume. It starts of as a mysterious story of a woman liaising with an incarcerated serial killer and ends somewhere in a hell hole of paranormal madness that made feel slightly sick in the best possible way. 

I am a massive fan of protagonists that are hard to love, and let me tell you - good luck loving this one. Every time she shows even the smallest hint of humanity, a tiny tether you can identify with, there is a plot development that sends you flying back into the darkness, screaming to get away from her. The addition of the physically and mentally challenged sister was an added accoutrement of bone chilling terror too, especially towards the end of the story when everything starts slotting into place in the worst possible way. 

I couldn't tell where the book was going at any given point and that weird kind of vertigo it gave me was really unique and quite memorable. I'm looking forward to reading more from the author this year.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, and Murder

missgrangerr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

THIS BOOK! Easily one of the best books I have ever read. This is one that settles into your bones and will not let go. I will be thinking of this book for a long time. If you can handle strong trigger warning situations I would highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Death, Eating disorder, Torture, Child abuse, Cursing, Physical abuse, Child death, Sexual content, Blood, Body horror, Incest, Pedophilia, Violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

goldbs's review

challenging dark fast-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Gore, Rape, Murder, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Blood, Cursing, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Death, Mental illness, Violence, and Eating disorder

Minor: War

annet_xy's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Rape, Incest, Medical trauma, Murder, Pedophilia, and Child abuse

ohlisaline's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-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? Yes

2.0

This book was really good starting off, I really enjoyed the short and well-paced chapters, as well as the little flashbacks and snippets that broke the main plot up. 
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.

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Content Warnings

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

zombie_loves_books's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Ableism, Pedophilia, Violence, Rape, Blood, and Murder

alexlouise97's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Gore, Incest, Torture, Blood, Child death, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Ableism, and Abandonment

Moderate: Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Cursing, Medical content, Physical abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders