Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell

31 reviews

znvisser's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

This was kind of gross but also sweet and interesting. Shesheshen is fun! And a monster, but she is quite a social one (although she wouldn’t agree); she knows precisely how to use words with humans, evading truth without disturbing the conversation had by them. At several moments she is even surprisingly more human and better at recognising humanity than actual people. The story was more adventurous than I anticipated, which was great because the romance took a while to take hold. I enjoyed this!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Animal cruelty, Murder, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

klamsc's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Violence, and Physical abuse

ezrazoe4's review

dark mysterious medium-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

5.0

Admittedly I will be biased towards this book because I love eldritch main characters trying to blend into society. That wasn’t exactly what happened, but I love it all the same. 

I love Shesheshen. Although I do wish we could’ve gotten more on Homily’s thoughts about Shesheshen basically eating her whole family, Catharsis in particular? That was the death Shesheshen directly caused. Nevertheless.

I really like the weird creepy monster biology. I like that the author really leaned into it and didn’t try to humanise her too much. Usually I’m not a fan of instalove, but I donno. The way this was written made me like it. Probably because it started as a big crush, then grew quickly into love? I can’t really wrap my head around it. 

Also omg sapphic ace lesbians??? I’m so happy. 

I genuinely did not guess that the Baroness was also Shesheshen’s mother? That was some reveal.

Anyway, in conclusion, good standalone sapphic fantasy with a lot of horror elements. I like it. Would love if there were more books like this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Violence, and Torture

woolerys's review

adventurous emotional funny 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 monster romance was a mix of funny, harrowing, and touching, as a monster romance should be! Mild spoiler for queer rep:

both the protagonist (the monster) and her human love interest are ace!

There’s a strong theme of “humans are the real monsters” which… could have been more subtle, but at least the overtness read as a stylistic choice and not just blundering. The villains are increasingly absurd. The plot kept me engaged and frequently surprised. Shesheshen, our protagonist, is wonderfully likable and disgusting at the same time. The ending wasn’t as strong as I’d hoped, but it was… interesting, ha. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, Violence, and Abortion

temperamentalprotagonist's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Murder, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Body horror, and Child death

Moderate: Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Homophobia

sgrunwald96's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-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

5.0

Deeply surprised by this one. Elements of old fairytales, classic kids stories, gory body horror, crazy monster design, quiet romance, and family issues somehow come together in a truly wholesome story? I had so much fun, and really loved the monster in all her iterations. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Gore, and Blood

Moderate: Death of parent, Bullying, Grief, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse

terriaminute's review against another edition

dark emotional lighthearted medium-paced

5.0

I took my time reading this novel, because the author has a clever way with words and I didn't want to miss anything. :) 

If you've ever felt that monsters get a bad rap, this novel is for you! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Bullying, Death of parent, Child death, and Violence

snazzy10101's review

dark emotional funny fast-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder, Body horror, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

ecpritchard's review

adventurous emotional funny medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Gore

Moderate: Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

bglenners's review

adventurous funny fast-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Child death

Minor: Physical abuse