Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix

5 reviews

mj452's review

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Blood, Death, Gore, Suicide, Vomit, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Grief, and Medical content

Minor: Misogyny, Alcohol, and Sexual content

tifftastic87's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Amy works for a soulless beige big box furniture retailer and she really dislikes it. Her goal was not to be here, but to go to college. However, coming from a low income family that's not always so easy. Crushed with student debt and bills she can never seem to catch up, she dreams of the "sit down job." She's determined to put in minimal effort and Orsk and just go along to get along. Until the day she gets offered roughly $800 in cash to put in an overnight shift to figure out what is causing some weird things to be happening. Amy agrees and shows up for the overnight with her supervisor and a lovely sweet cashier. They're surprised by two other employees who have snuck in to do their own research. What is in store is worse than a casual haunting, this runs deep. 

Another great take on capitalism by setting a tense story inside an Ikea knock-off. I only wish I read this closer to Finna. Hendrix did a really good job of using the exact types of people that I have found at every retail job I have ever had and perfectly expressing how soul crushing retail is. The way corporations treat their employees and how society views productivity in general. I really appreciated this one. It was also gory and made me squirm in just the right amount.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, and Classism

Minor: Racism and Misogyny

spooderman's review

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: Ableism, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Vomit

Minor: Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, and Misogyny

sophiareadswaytoomuch's review

challenging dark funny tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Honestly, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I’ve read a couple of other books by this author and they didn’t really hit the mark for me, where this one did. I really loved the commitment to the book format- the similarity to an IKEA catalogue is maintained all the way through, up to and including the authors note. I thought it was a nice touch, and it helped to keep the tongue-in-cheek aspect as the book got a bit darker in places.

 This book also succeeded in making me feel both scared and uncomfortable, which is a first for this author. Definitely check the content warnings: I went into this blind and damn. There ended up being a few things I would have appreciated a heads up about. 

I ended up really enjoying the development of the Amy and Basil, two of the main characters. While not super likeable at times, they were definitely fun to read about, and I appreciated their character arcs. 
Overall a fun, fast paced story with a solid cast of characters, decent amount of spook factor, and generally an interesting take on the haunted house genre.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Mental illness, Torture, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Misogyny

msradiosilence's review

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Excrement, Gore, Murder, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Torture, Misogyny, Mental illness, Grief, Gaslighting, and Forced institutionalization