Reviews tagging 'Incest'

The Hunger by Alma Katsu

51 reviews

readingrainbill's review against another edition

dark sad slow-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

1.5

This book should have trigger warnings for almost everything. There's a lot of triggering stuff here but the biggest ones are rape, incest, and suicide. 

 

The Hunger had a good idea with poor execution. Taking moments of history and turning them into fiction is nothing new. I quite liked Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter as a goofy and enjoyable read. I went into this hoping for a dark and emotional journey into whatever evil befell the Donner party. But what I got instead was a haphazard mess that didn’t ever find its stride. Also, what the evil was, was never quite figured out. While we do find out some of the puzzle, like who the true bad guy was, the why and how is never answered leaving a unfulfilled feeling that left me wanting more but also glad the book was over because I was so disappointed.

 

This had a lot of potential but the aforementioned triggers were just too much. It was unnecessary and it felt like it was done for an easy reaction. This character had awful violence in her past? Well don’t you feel sorry for her now? This poor guy tried to do the right thing but when the love of his life was horribly wronged he was forced out of town, how terrible! It’s lazy writing. One traumatizing story for a character, fine. I get it. But there was so much trauma that it felt like you condensed a whole season of Law and Order SVU into one book.

 

Alma Katsu has promise as a writer but this book was such a swing and a miss that the pither hadn’t even thrown the ball yet.  Skip this book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Incest, Rape, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, and Suicide

thegr8estangell's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense 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

4.25

The Donner party has always been fascinating to me. Being descendant of the Mormon pioneers who first settled Salt Lake City gives me more background information on the early pioneers. Having been raised with stories of those trekking westward since I was young, I've always been fascinated with tales from prairie. This book was really slow at first. It took a hot moment to get going, but once it did I didn't want to put it down. Evening knowing that most people in the party would meet their maker, I still was hooked. I loved the supernatural elements of the story. Wendigos are fucking terrifying. Being stalked out in the wilderness where nobody can help you is enough to make your blood run cold, but adding in skinwalkers? yeah, no thanks. I ordered the non-fiction books the author talks about in her acknowledgements to get more information. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Violence

queer_venus's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Far more incest than anticipated? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Medical content, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Racism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

cannotdice's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense 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

3.5

fucked….this book is fucked…..

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Xenophobia, Vomit, Violence, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Incest, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Death, Child death, Cannibalism, and Blood

charsometimes's review against another edition

slow-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Cannibalism, Colonisation, Death, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Murder, and Pedophilia

ubergusterfan's review against another edition

dark sad slow-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

2.25

It was only ok. I wanted it to be so much more. I wanted more supernatural elements. I wanted the plot to get dark. I wanted it to be scary. Instead, it wasn't. First the author does not keep the promise made in the prologue. Second, out of necessity there is a huge cast of characters, but they are so hard to keep apart because they all have a similar, mysterious past. Some plot lines just stop. Not end, just stop. And it wasn't scary. I was very let down by this book.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Incest and Rape

judereadsalot's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious relaxing 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Bullying, Racism, Gore, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Sexual content

Minor: Rape, Pedophilia, and Incest

rachelunabridged's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense slow-paced

• 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Sexism, Racism, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Gore, Death, Death of parent, Cannibalism, Child death, Child abuse, Body horror, Blood, Homophobia, and Grief

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Animal death

Minor: Incest

mftaylor's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

3.25

A fictional story about the Donner party that set forth towards California in the mid 1800's, with a supernatural element thrown in the mix. The real story is sad enough but Alma Katsu throws in so much more. It's pretty depressing.

The writing is great but it is a very slow burn. The main characters are well developed but there's so much meanness and sadness throughout. I can see it being a trigger for many.

This was a good read but not great for me. Maybe it was too slow and too depressing? I did like the supernatural element though. Worth a read.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Cannibalism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Homophobia, Murder, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

ripxw's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Gore, Murder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual violence

Minor: Domestic abuse