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abutchstargazer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Murder, and Gaslighting
bkmason's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Incest, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism and Blood
Minor: Eating disorder and Suicide
kermitdafrog's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.5
My main issues with this book go into heavy spoiler territory so here goes:
There is also some troubling ideas of love in here that I'm having a hard time believing is the character's opinion and not just the author's. Her vehemently denying any interest in Edmund felt genuine up to the point she suddenly heel turns towards the end, states she's head over heels for him and... means she'd obey him blindly? To the poijt of willingly being murdered? Having this be the influence of the river man or even just have this be a shift over time would be far preferable to how it was actually done.
Spoiler free Tldr: some interesting ideas thrown in around a terrible main character, heavy pacing issues, and heavy ideological issues not actually expanded upon enough to be seen as useful or insightful.
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol
marc3lin3's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
i had to take SO many breaks throughout this book.
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
celleuloid'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
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, and Murder
e_gracereads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
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, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
rachelparker's review
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Incest, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
waverlyloyd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, and Sexual harassment
booknerdnative's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical trauma, and Murder