Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

43 reviews

winters's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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, Body horror, Gore, Suicide, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

mlemzor's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

marleens's review against another edition

dark 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

On reread in 2025: this was my first Olde Heuvelt, but having read several more of his books, this one still remains the favorite. Great atmosphere, and so creepy from the get-go. And the second half just gets more and more horrible. Walking around my own house at night was suddenly very scary, I hardly dared enter my bedroom.
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I read this book mostly in broad daylight and I’m glad I did. So creepy! I loved the growing sense of dread throughout the book, the feeling that inevitable horrible things were coming. I also loved the writing. I read it in its original Dutch, and while I rarely read in Dutch, this book is making me want to pick up more Dutch authors as well as more horror.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, and Death of parent

adarkswitch's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This was such an original storyline. It was creepy, scary and sad. There are tons of trigger warnings: suicide, animal death, child death and abuse. If you can stomach all that....this was a very good book that will stick with me for a long time. A town of people who have become prisoners to fear for hundreds of years. Grief, fear and a curse....can all lead to chaos and disaster.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, and Suicide

Moderate: Physical abuse and Murder

kingsteph's review against another edition

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Murder, and Toxic friendship

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

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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

mikayyyla's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.25

I really loved the set up of this book and I was so excited to read it. It had a strong start and I enjoyed learning about the mysterious town, but I feel like the plot never really took off and the ending was extremely lackluster. I felt like we kept building up to something and that something never came. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Forced institutionalization

chipsoline's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

0.25

Horrible depictions of women!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Sexism

Don't waste your time.

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

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

cryptogay's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.5

Really incredible, very creepy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Ableism, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Medical content, and Colonisation