Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Gone to See the River Man by Kristopher Triana

25 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

katelynalice's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

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

thereadingdude's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Self harm, Rape, Incest, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Violence

Moderate: Vomit

reader248_5's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

2.25

Don’t read it. It’s disgusting. The main plot in itself is fine, it’s the subplots. I almost threw up. Look, it’s a well written book, but not worth the read. However, the main character was wildly interesting to look at. Her thoughts are… interesting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Blood, Sexual content, Rape, Incest, Gore, and Body horror

Moderate: War, Eating disorder, Torture, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, and Self harm

mconroy9137's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Racism, Incest, Misogyny, Body horror, Child death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Rape, Sexism, Murder, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Ableism, Body horror, and Eating disorder

Minor: Alcohol, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Vomit, Abortion, Domestic abuse, War, and Cursing

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

nicesideburns's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• 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

Wow. Just wow.

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.

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Content Warnings

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

Edmund's crimes are extremely racially motivated towards Asian woman from depolarable language to the acts itself that is later touched on.

goreimm's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Self harm, Murder, Incest, Emotional abuse, and Eating disorder

ryoung23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Another one of those wtf did I just read. It's messed up and graphic, which seems to be right up my alley here lately. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Suicide, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

LOTS of trigger warnings

perfectcupoftea's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Genocide, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Sexual assault, Ableism, Child death, Gore, War, Racism, and Self harm