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chainsawheartbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
The combination of characters and insane morals people will drop to all for the “good of the town” were really interesting, and I found the actual setting intriguing, I loved learning more about its rich and fucked up history.
But this felt like a slog. I really wanted to enjoy it more than I did, and I can’t really put my finger on why I didn’t.
There was a whole host of characters that I both wanted more information on, while also not really caring what happened to them.
And I really wish that the witch had more to do, especially in the end. I understand the whole metaphorical aspect of it, but I wanted her to get shit done.
All in all, I’m content with the fact I’ve read it, but I sadly can’t see myself revisiting this. Evidently this just wasn’t for me.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death, Confinement, Grief, Gore, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Rape, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Bullying, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, and Islamophobia
hauntedantiqueshop'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
1.0
Graphic: Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Grief, Death, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gore, Child death, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Suicide, Medical trauma, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Gun violence, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Incest, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Alcohol
There isn’t a tag for the f slur but it is used a handful of times.aparker89's review against another edition
- 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
Good f&cking book! Definitely not for the faint of heart but damn- my heart hurts after reading this!
Graphic: Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Classism, Genocide, Medical trauma, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Blood, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Torture, Confinement, Gore, Police brutality, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Homophobia, and Islamophobia
ravensalwaysreading's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Torture, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Suicide attempt, Child death, Cursing, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Antisemitism, Animal death, Gore, Grief, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, and Sexism
turtleofhades's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Suicide
Moderate: Child abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Animal death, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Sexual harassment, Child death, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Abandonment, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Islamophobia, Torture, Animal cruelty, Blood, Cursing, Mental illness, Classism, Death, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, and Sexism
geerbeer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Graphic: Sexual assault, Misogyny, Child death, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Death, Rape, Blood, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Physical abuse and Racism
tbd24's review against another edition
- 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
I have a difficult time rating this because i feel like, technically, in some ways, it was a pretty good book. The writing was lush and evocative, and sense of horror well maintained and accentuated with moments of humor or banality or otherwise. However, I feel like the book had a lot of problems with realistic character choices. Tyler and Jaden are the only two people who feel like fully realized characters who have motive and personality and make wise and unwise choices. Every other named character makes choices that are convenient to the plot and every unnamed background character (the citizens of black springs, who seem to number in the thousands??) are just a faceless mass of mob mentality. I feel like the author spent little time convincing me that thousands of people would make the irrational choices they did, and more time moralizing that humanity is stupid and hopeless and violent. I am already biased against this opinion so i guess take this with a grain of salt. The last 25% of the book is just hitting you over the head with “people are stupid and violent and humanity sucks”, down to steve’s final decision to
Beyond this, the main problem I had throughout the whole book was the authors blatant sexism. The only woman in this book with anything like power or agency was the literal witch, who’s literally wrapped in chains with her mouth and eyes sewn shut. Every description of a woman fell neatly into category of “ugly old hag”, “mom”, or “sexual object with no personality”. Not even any bitches! Sometimes women would cross contaminate, and be an ugly old hag who was at least worth it for the tits, or a mom who still put out every night for her husband. Even in moments when it made absolutely no sense, the author found a way to get a woman naked (ie;
Anyway yeah I think that’s it. Some very stunning moments of evocative writing. Some equally stunning moments of sexism, nihilism, and general senseless violence. Not really my thing
Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Animal cruelty, Child death, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, Gore, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Islamophobia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Excrement, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Violence
postmortem's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Sexual assault, Body horror, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual harassment, and Violence
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Alcohol
kt2e56's review against another edition
- 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
I definitely recommend this one but agree with others about the bizarre fixation on nipples.
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
marina_michelle's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, Violence, Death, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Child death, Child abuse, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Bullying, Racism, Body horror, Car accident, and Sexism