Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Horns by Joe Hill

8 reviews

lecheeese's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.0

This novel delves into the selfishness of humanity and feelings of loss, with a smattering of supernatural elements.

Satan has long been known as the Adversary, but God fears women even more than He fears the devil -- and he is right to. She, with her power to bring life into the world, was truly made in the image of the Creator, not man, and in all ways has proved Herself a more deserving object of man's worship than Christ, that unshaven fanatic who lusted for the end of the world.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Blood, Misogyny, Cursing, Death of parent, Dementia, Grief, Animal death, Death, and Rape

Moderate: Terminal illness and Toxic friendship

Minor: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Pedophilia

glitchkitsch's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Death, and Misogyny

Moderate: Rape, Animal death, Blood, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Grief, Terminal illness, Cancer, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, and Body horror

Minor: Cursing, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Medical content, Self harm, Vomit, Drug use, Classism, Gun violence, and Pedophilia

linddykal's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Dementia, Cursing, Death, Violence, Rape, Murder, Toxic friendship, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Fatphobia

tayrod4594's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Murder, Alcohol, Animal death, Dementia, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Homophobia, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death of parent, Gun violence, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Drug use, Gore, and Sexual violence

bookbelle5_17's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

A Review of Horns

By: Joe Hill

            Iggy Parrish had a pretty good life with his older brother Terry, his parents, grandmother, best friend Lee, and a loving girlfriend.  Then his girlfriend, Merrin is raped and murdered after they had a fight and on the anniversary of her murder he wakes up after a night of drinking with devil horns on his head.  These horns have the power to make people reveal their darkest thoughts and he learns everyone, including his parents and grandmother, think he killed her.

            The monsters in this story aren’t supernatural, despite Iggy having supernatural powers, but are human. It explores how everyone has darkness in them and how it’s hard to have faith in God when shitty things happen for many people.  After Merrin’s murder, Iggy begs the question, how can believing in God be the right when he lets things like this happen.  Merrin believed in God and wore a cross necklace, the very piece of jewelry that brought Iggy, Merrin, and Lee, who also has feelings for her, together. Along with Iggy’s story, we see Lee’s story.  His friendship with Iggy becomes complicated and full of envy and resentment, on Lee’s part.  He manipulates Iggy and clings to whatever time he can get with Merrin.  He feels entitled and is obsessed with her and believed when Iggy and Merrin broke up she would get together with him.  He might even have something to do with her murder. The story reflects how easy it is to be tempted by the devil, because the devil might make things easier and give you the revenge you desire. You can become the devil yourself.  Iggy is able to get people to confess their darkest thoughts and worse impulses, including learning from Terry who murdered Merrin.  This causes his own demon to emerge and he sees the devil as his ally rather than God.  I don’t agree with the conclusion Iggy comes to, but I understood where it was coming from.  The antagonist is a well-rounded character that I felt pity for, but also hated.  The supernatural element was a fun way to look the ugly side of grief and how it’s often easier to deal with anger then sadness.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Cursing, Sexual assault, Body horror, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and Toxic friendship

kaceofpages's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Cursing, Child death, Rape, Murder, Gore, Death, and Body horror

_thelitlibrarian's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

3.5

3.50 stars
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TW; Rape, Death, Murder, Sexual Content, Cancer, Cursing, Sexual Assault, Suicide Attempt.
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Ig Perrish hasn't always had the easiest life with being accused of murdering his longtime girlfriend Merrin. With all the evidence being destroyed, the whole town thinks he's done it and is upset that he was born into a privileged family and seemingly got away with murder. After (another) night of drinking, he wakes up with a hangover and horns that are suddenly sprouting from his head? The new growths come with a gift; anyone he talks to will say what they really think and mean. This creates an uproar in his life as he realizes no one is really on his side. 

As a huge Joe Hill lover, this was a rough review to write. I loved the concept of the story - but felt it just dragged on a little too long. Although the horns concept was neat, I preferred the flashbacks to when Ig didn't have them. There was a lot of backstory and buildup between his relationship with Merrin, I understand that by saying that, the book would have been something completely different. I still have a hard time trying to figure out what kind of book this was meant to be, is Ig suddenly on a revenge streak? Is he trying to get to the bottom of the case? He didn't have as much growth as I had wanted to have, and I feel like his name wasn't really clear in the end. 

What did I love? The flashbacks made me think of Stephen King in his younger days and goes to show that Joe learned a lot from his father. I also loved the humor in the book; for such a serious concept, there were many times I found myself chuckling out loud at something that happened in the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Death, Murder, Sexual content, Cancer, Cursing, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

siegethebox's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-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? No

3.5

In Horns, Joe Hill does an excellent job making you feel the anger a despair of the protagonist, while setting you up to root for the devil, himself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Rape

Moderate: Alcohol, Cancer, Cursing, and Sexual content