Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Break the Bodies, Haunt the Bones by Micah Dean Hicks

3 reviews

diothyst's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Starting this book I expected a fairly straightforward ghost story but what this book ended up being was far beyond that. It turned into a dark, tense horror that left me turning each page quicker than the last looking for the resolution and the one we get is so far from the one that is expected.

Set in Swine Hill, a failing town only kept alive by the pig slaughtering plant, we are introduced to a family and their ghosts. Nearly every person in town is haunted by at least one ghost and Jane, Henry, and their mother are no exceptions. Hick uses ghosts in an extremely unique way, telling us how these ghosts have wants and desires and needs that guide their entire being. Jane's ghost needs secrets and conflict, Henry's ghost is desperate to keep creating new things to the point where it takes over Henry for days at a time to invent, and their mother whose ghost is so hungry for affection that she burns anyone she touches.

The story is rife with despair and greed, prejudice and racism, anger and desolation. When Henry's latest invention causes newcomers to begin working at the plant both the ghosts and the people living within the town begin to grow angry and upset and fingers turn to point at Jane and her family. What follows is a fight for survival and to rid themselves of ghosts, but every turn brings a greater consequence then Jane expects. 

The book is thrilling and challenging despite the weird turns it takes and while the ending is hopeful and the best case scenario it still leaves you sad for each of the characters and what this ending means for them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Racism and Violence

stepnic's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Classism, Death, Murder, Violence, Animal cruelty, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Gore, Hate crime, Animal death, and Blood

Moderate: Physical abuse, Abandonment, Child abuse, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Stalking, and Torture

Minor: Death of parent, Sexual content, Cannibalism, Gun violence, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts

lizzie24601's review against another edition

dark 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

5.0

Holy shit, I was not expecting this book to be so good. Jane and Henry are really interesting, well-developed characters (with realistic sibling interactions!). The author uses fantasy and sci fi to dissect community-level trauma and the difficulty of leaving a bad environment.

And this book was NOT about what I thought it would be. I mean, the description on the book jacket is pretty accurate, but wait till you find out who the "new arrivals" are...

Be aware of the content warnings. This is a horror novel and the author really came up with some new and horrible things to happen to these characters. There are scenes of murder, a hate crime, and police brutality that could be particularly upsetting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Hate crime, Murder, Police brutality, Grief, and Gun violence

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Kidnapping, Racism, and Violence