Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

26 reviews

aromarrie's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Animal death, and Suicide

Moderate: Body horror, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Islamophobia, Homophobia, and Violence

Minor: Rape

bludgeoned_by_hail's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Body horror

Moderate: Suicide, Sexual violence, and Rape

chainsawheartbooks's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

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

acorn192k's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Body horror, Mental illness, Police brutality, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Torture

Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Islamophobia, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

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. 

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Content Warnings

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

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

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

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! 

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Content Warnings

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

maddie1280's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I will forever be scarred. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Suicide, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Blood, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Self harm

quazimodo's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

2.75

Te veel tepels. Taalgebruik van de tieners is erg grof.

Wat was dat einde, man? Ik had dit misschien niet moeten lezen voor het slapengaan...

Boek bevat een redelijke lijst aan trigger warnings, zoek ze op voor je gaat lezen, alsjeblieft?

Een interessant boek maar het was gewoon denk ik niet voor mij. Blij dat ik het heb gelezen maar ik heb nu een lichter boek nodig haha

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Suicide, Animal death, Sexual violence, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Blood, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Self harm and Excrement

cluelesspixie's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Child death

Minor: Rape

kellyofcali's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

I really like the first three-quarters of this - a horrifying slow burn. It is pretty brutal and gruesome, so beware if you don't like sort of gory and generally troubling horror. However, the end suddenly shot off the rails into chaos, feeling out of character with the book and frankly losing me a bit - I preferred the slower build.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mass/school shootings, Confinement, Child death, Grief, Bullying, Violence, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Animal death, Suicide, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Religious bigotry and Rape