Reviews with content warning for Rape - Hex

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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torrentsofhayl's review against another edition

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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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kelleykamanda's review against another edition

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dark 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? No

2.5

Great concept, slow middle, ending was abrupt… and man this guy had a weird fetish with nipple torture/ abuse.

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aromarrie's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Only if we have suffered can we make choices out of love.

honestly….weird sexual references and violations of a witch’s body aside….what was originally a very strong 4-star was bumped up into a 4.5 when i got close to the ending. one that was very bleak and left me feeling kinda numb, to be honest 🥲

if there’s one thing i can compliment about this author’s work, among many others, it’s how he portrays the grief of family and losing a loved one. how fast it makes you spiral and also the town you could maybe call home. he’s a real charmer for that.

and now i need even more to get to speak with the author like please 😭 i need to hear about what goes through his head; it’s a new dream of mine, now more than ever.

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bludgeoned_by_hail's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

A surreally terrifying and original story. Just thinking about the premise of a rotting witch popping up randomly in my house gives me the chills, and the exploration of the prosaic ways in which a small XXI century town would deal with an ancient mystical curse like this is very unique and interesting. The creepy atmosphere of Stephen King-esque small town gothic (King is a big influence in general) escalates and the tension rises, but unfortunately it all falls apart in lazy shock horror and hamfisted moralizing.

The amazing concept is also pretty heavily dragged down by the book's "dudebro-isms": the almost fetishistic amounts of gendered violence used for horror, the mean-spirited portrayal of small town folks as bloodthirsty Bible-thumping idiots, and the entire character of Robert Grim, the epitome of "Reddit cool". Sometimes even the language of the writing slips into these cringy tropes, which makes the big sweeping declarations about the evils of humanity and mass hysteria feel even more adolescent.

This all makes it sound like I didn't like the book, which is not true. It's an incredibly spooky and engaging read and I'd still definitely recommend it to horror fans everywhere. I'm just kinda pissed about the ending still ;-;

(Also the setting should've stayed Beek in the English version, WHERE IS THE DUTCH HORROR REP)

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chainsawheartbooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

I’ve finally finished this.

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.

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acorn192k's review against another edition

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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

3.0

Thomas Olde Heuvelt stop talking about nipples challenge.

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