Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

10 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

---

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.

---

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

keatonmarie's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Torture, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

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.

---

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

jilly_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I DEVOURED this book. I rarely get this enthusiastic about new horror and this was just *chef’s kiss* perfection. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Abortion, and Death of parent

aparker89's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This is a solid book! A fascinating story full of terror, love, heartbreak and most importantly- the evil of mankind! 
Good f&cking book! Definitely not for the faint of heart but damn- my heart hurts after reading this! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

dan_tee's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

3.75

A lot of good stuff in this book. For the pure horror, the author builds tension well and holds it across many pages at a time. It makes you want to know more, even as you're peeking through your fingers. 

It has some interesting themes m, though I'm not sure the author knew what they wanted to say with some of them. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Islamophobia

Minor: Homophobia

A couple of descriptions stick out as offensive/out of place. It's helpful to remember this was written 10+ years ago, and the author is not endorsing homophobic or islsmophonic views, merely using characters with these virws to solidify who these bigots were and what they thought.

kt2e56's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

One of the more fucked up books I’ve read in awhile. There’s a dark sense of humor here mixed in with a macabre, gruesome fairytale that feels oddly fitting in today’s climate with Puritan “Christian” values and fascism on the rise hand in hand with a fear of the “other.”

I definitely recommend this one but agree with others about the bizarre fixation on nipples.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Excrement, Islamophobia, Sexual harassment, and Classism

coleyglasses's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

1.5

The concept for this book was fantastic but the ultimate execution was very much lacking, especially in the back half of the book. 
Additionally

Way too much nipple torture and very poorly written female characters

Made for an uncomfortable read at times and not in the good way

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

bumblebethbee's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious fast-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? No

4.75

I heard about this Dutch-to-English translated book on the podcast Books In The Freezer and how good it was and let me tell you, I am so glad I picked it up and read it. The story is so compelling, and the complete sense of dread I got while reading it up until even the very end proves to me that Thomas knows what he’s doing. I highly recommend this to anyone. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Islamophobia