Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison

84 reviews

edrickashay's review against another edition

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

2.0

 

If you’re in the mood for a creepy or Halloween-ish rom-com, sure, this might be up your ally. This first half of this book was utterly unbearable for me with an annoying pick-me MC and detail-inconsistencies, but it must have done something right because I kept reading. It would be a great read for a drinking game – take a shot every time the author mentions a pentagram. It screams trying too hard. 

This book is for the Starbucks, Stanley-cup loving girl to read around Halloween (and I have nothing against that, I promise, it’s just not me). 

It was entertaining enough to finish, though, but I couldn’t really tell you why. My list of offenses are: 

 

1.      An MC who thinks she’s edgy and “different” but is really just sad and flat – she has a right to be so mad at the world, but I felt the trauma or big reveal wasn’t well-written enough for it to feel authentic 

2.      An unironic use of the word “chuegy”. I hate it. Edgy girls do not use the word “chuegy” unironically. 

3.      MC forgets to pack a dress and finds one in the closet but three pages later magically has a red dress she specifically picked out for the event 

4.      Cliché after cliché about the night or nature speaking to the MC when the MC has absolutely no connection or value placed in nature – talking to the movie memorabilia made much more sense and felt more authentic 

5.      Cliché after cliché about ex-boyfriends (who is a shitty groom to be) 

6.      Plot twists that were so easy to predict 

7.      Signs and symbols mentioned in the first few chapters, forgotten about entirely until it’s convenient (pepper them in the middle more, please) 

8.      An extremely flat and cliché depiction of Satan – I guess this is a personal annoyance since I know a little about the occult and angel/demon religious lore… 

9.      The MC has like no arc. Completely unscathed and unchanged. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Animal death, Body horror, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

caseythereader's review against another edition

dark funny tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Cursing, Animal death, Body horror, Death of parent, Blood, Gore, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

flaminggecko's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal death and Cursing

violetjean4's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

A reminder that you don’t ever have to go back to the cult you were raised in. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Animal death and Animal cruelty

flash_n_trash's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, and Death

louiepotterbook's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

rachaelwho's review against another edition

dark medium-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

Repetitive. Pacing issues. Didn't quite make sense. Protagonist is characterized as tough and difficult, but there's really no evidence of her being outwardly hostile (though she is often judgy, resentful and sullen internally) or fighting what she's supposed to do at pretty much any turn, other than leaving the faith and

dressing inappropriately at her cousin's wedding to passive-agressively outshine her (but even then, she pulls her punches and brings a cardigan to cover up)

. If this is supposed to be happening (a la being a lamb)... It's not particularly impactful or clear bc it's not consistent; she's constantly described as being a massive bitch who doesn't think about others' feelings or expectations, but she almost never acts out

until the final conflict

. CW for

cults and religious abuse

, which I didn't see available in the section for that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Animal death, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Blood, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Violence

alisacress's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Blood, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexual content, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

mysterious 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

0.25

this is one of the worst books i’ve read this year, and just in general. the plot is incredibly misleading. the very early “twist” should’ve been mentioned in the synopsis, if it was i never would’ve read this. i think books should 100% mention if there are supernatural aspects, because that is a huge part of the book and something i don’t usually enjoy. the characters were flat and none of them were tolerable. the major plot twist is incredibly silly and just juvenile to me. overall, i don’t think this was written well at all and it was just silly, and not in a good way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Stalking, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Death, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Violence, and Addiction

waclements7's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Animal death