Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

31 reviews

aleen_elizabeth's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

automatic_rae's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Creepy, unsettling, atmospheric. Dark and upsetting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Vomit, Abandonment, and Alcohol

jordhana's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Forced institutionalization

kaymisey's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.5

The plot and rules of the haunting/curse were hard to follow at times, but the book was 10/10 in spooky atmosphere. There was some dialogue that made the book more silly and took me out of the mood; I'm not sure if it was written that way or it was a translator issue. 

All in all, it was a good pick for October book club

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

taleofabibliophile's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Islamophobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, and Racial slurs

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Homophobia, and Xenophobia

davisota2018's review against another edition

sad tense 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: Animal death, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Fatphobia, Misogyny, and Islamophobia

Minor: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Pandemic/Epidemic

tavvyj's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.75

I read this in a book club and can tell I liked it quite a bit more than most of them did. This novel is emotional, and so much of it is tense. Heuvelt uses very specific language to stand out specific passages, and because of that it can warrant disgust at times.

I'm going to talk about the nipples here, which are a large part of the shock value. My friends said things like "don't make a drinking game out of it" and the like, so while I was reading I kept count of the mentions. While it's a higher number than one would expect in a non-smut or romance book, it mentions them 10 total times, 9 of which are for shock value and disgust. Talking about Tyler's nips was weird though. 

In any case, the use seems pretty clear to make the imagery stand out and not just mentioning nipples just to mention nipples as my friends emphasized.

The book is dark and emotional, it's horrific. And it's a reminder that the true evil in the world is, and has always been, humans being afraid of something.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

torrentsofhayl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Rape and Pregnancy

luxrae's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

lozziejhall's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Islamophobia, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation