Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix

9 reviews

milly_gm01's review

challenging dark funny tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Murder, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Body horror, Blood, Medical content, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

nikenacs's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Vomit, Death, and Confinement

librarymouse's review

adventurous challenging mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

I'm glad I got this book in print to read, but now, I'm unsettled by it.

Ruth Anne's snoopy😭. Twice, when he came up, first in Amy's thoughts right after Ruth Anne succumbing to the pennetants, and again at Ruth Anne's memorial, I nearly cried. Grady Hendrix has a neat trick of characterizing his characters with little, branded quirks, like Ruth Anne's religious attachment to Blistex and Amy specifically stopping at the Speedway for coffee that somewhat break the suspension disbelief while making them a bit more interesting. Ruth Anne's Snoopy waiting for her on the couch at a home she'll never return to takes that almost comical brand name dropping and turns it on it's head. Making the thought of a mass produced toy waiting for it's loving owner to return home such a deeply gut wrenching thing in the slog of gore and terror in this book makes upsetting and gorgeous space for grief. Ruth Anne gouging out her own eyes to avoid seeing the things that terrified her, with the childlike belief that if she can't see them, they can't see her is equally upsetting.

Matt and Trinity are interesting characters, but they don't get as much space in the book to be known. The focus is on Amy, Basil, and Ruth Anne. Ruth Anne does a great job personalizing Basil to Amy, beyond the archetype of ineffective middle manager. He believes in her as a person. It just takes a while for the two of them to understand each other.

This book really takes the concept of the real evil being capitalism to the furthest degree possible beg it would fall into a spoof/satire category. Orsk is a corporate, bureaucratic nightmare.

The gradual shifting of the images from possible furniture pieces to torture equipment is honestly funny. I like how each item is showcased in the chapter. In some scenes, this book reads a bit like a fanfiction, which isn't a bad thing. It provides much needed moments of levity.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, Physical abuse, Body horror, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Self harm

mallory10100's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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? No

5.0

this was WILD 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Murder, Police brutality, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Confinement, Excrement, Grief, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Cursing, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicide, Death, and Vomit

itsbumley's review

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? No

3.75

Horrifying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Body horror, Blood, Self harm, Gore, Gaslighting, Police brutality, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Confinement, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, and Suicide

carbinara's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

This was such a fun concept, and since uni is kicking my ass I sorta needed something quick and impactful. This deffo delivered. Loved the criticism of capitalism, loved Amy (which is rare for me to live main characters but Hendrix has always managed it so far), and loved the horror aspects. 

 I only wish we got more world building.

I’m assuming Orsk is more involved than we think. We assume its only the Ohio store affected since the prison was built there before it, but then we see that someone has gone missing from the New York location? And I sort of assumed it wasn’t the same ghosts since beehive was still under Planet Baby but idk. Considering its a criticism of capitalism, would make sense if Orsk was involved, especially with how they react.

Still a really fun story, but would love a sequel lol

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, Vomit, Confinement, Death, Blood, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Physical abuse, Slavery, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture

Minor: Cursing and Excrement

gracklewarp's review

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Violence, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gore, Suicide, Body horror, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Abandonment, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Excrement

mconroy9137's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, Body horror, Gore, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Death, Blood, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Excrement, Antisemitism, and Grief

a_h_severa's review

adventurous funny tense fast-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

3.75

The author writes in a way that makes it feel like a movie. I couldn’t put it down once I started reading. The pacing was overall pretty good. It was slow for the first chapter or so and then there was a quickly building tension that remained for most of the book. The main character didn’t feel super likable and the story unfortunately lacked diversity but overall it was a thrilling journey with a lot of twists and turns.

I do have mixed feelings about the ending. I enjoyed it because it truly showed the character development for the main character but it felt like it was setting up for a sequel that felt unnecessary and undeserved. There’s a time gap of a year if I remember correctly so whatever rescue plan the main character had felt too little too late. Still, I’m glad she completed her character arc because she felt a little flat for the majority of the book. I didn’t really like her until towards the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, Violence, Torture, Slavery, Physical abuse, Murder, Body horror, and Death

Minor: Alcoholism, Racism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis