Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

12 reviews

frey's review

challenging emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Absolutely devastating read, in the best way possible. Not the genre i usually read but by the quarter-way point i was unable to put it down for long. Even as a non-American it was such a beautiful read with beautifully believable characters. The way of telling the story was so well done and my heart hurt so much for Hannah the longer I read.

Not to mention, finding out at the very end that Lydia didn't actually mean to kill herself broke my heart. The last chapter of the book was so beautifully sorrowful that it nearly broke me. The line from Nath's point of view at the very end of the book: "When, a long, long time later, he stares down at the silent blue marble of the earth and thinks of his sister, as he will at every important moment in his life." I still think about this line weeks later. Nothing encapsulates grief better I think in the book than this line. I will never get over it: "I will always think of you in the most important moments of my life" is grief in its most beautiful form.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Racism, Sexism, Infidelity, Grief, and Child death

Moderate: Racial slurs and Pregnancy

Minor: Body horror, Sexual content, and Alcohol

bergha1998's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

This is a heavy book. The writing is exquisite, I love all the characters and their development throughout the book. If you come from a dysfunctional family, though, this one might hit you where it hurts. Especially for me the relationship between Nath and Lydia. 

Thriller/Mystery, Dysfunctional Family, Trauma

“Dreaming of his future, he no longer heard all the things she did not say.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Infidelity, Suicide, Alcohol, Body horror, Death, Cursing, and Racism

michaelion's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Heartbreaking in a way that makes you smile? Or maybe I'm just a little skewed. It's so real. The beauty of the writing style alone hooked me but the story? Too real.

There's a paragraph where mom is thinking about Lydia and how she can mold her future and everything her daughter is going to be that she couldn't and in the middle Hannah is mentioned, as mom is pregnant, and so quickly is she forgotten. She is sandwiched between Marilyn and Lydia, in story and in sentence, just barely acknowledged, but nothing more. That's only ONE example of the writing that had me hooked much earlier than that scene.

So painful. And despite everything that happens the family loves each other so much, in a bad, terrible, abusive and abused way, but as the title shows, none of them know how to tell each other that. None of them know how to be better to each other, but they all want to. I fucking love it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Abandonment, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexism, Xenophobia, Death, Bullying, Child abuse, Grief, and Infidelity

Moderate: Misogyny, Blood, Physical abuse, Body horror, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Outing, Alcohol, Suicide, and Vomit

afion's review against another edition

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Infidelity, Grief, Violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Death

Moderate: Suicide, Bullying, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Rape, Body horror, and Death of parent

melissathejan's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

Second time reading this and I forgot how much I loved it. I feel such sadness for the characters as they grieve and long for things they will never have, and feel close to them as they make mistakes and eventually try to learn from them and forgive one another.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Child death, Physical abuse, Racism, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Minor: Body horror

marabdelmageed's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

Celeste Ng is a truly amazing author -- I love her writing style, her method of storytelling, and simply put, her ideas. This was such a good book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexism

Moderate: Alcohol, Homophobia, and Suicide

morganperks's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Racism, Child death, Death, Suicide, Racial slurs, Grief, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Misogyny, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Body horror, and Pregnancy

winter_b's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Pregnancy, Vomit, Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Misogyny

Moderate: Outing, Suicide, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Bullying, Alcohol, and Abandonment

kestrel's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

The book actually had for the majority of it. I really liked the family portrait and I really liked the complexity of the characters. However, the reveal kind of let me down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Racism, Racial slurs, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Infidelity, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Body horror

vurawnica's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, and Body horror