Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

9 reviews

bloomingrose92's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

While horror isn't really my thing, this book was incredibly well written. I particularly liked the descriptions that Sutherland gave. They provided a strong sense of rotting darkness throughout the book with novel phrases I'd never heard before.

And the twist of them not be chased by something that hides in the dark, but being the thing that hides in the dark was excellent. That they killed the three little Hollow girls, stole their bodies, then left them, unburied, as they took over the Hollow sisters' lives. I especially liked the line that Grey called out to the Hollow sisters for help, and they listened, because Grey was a little girl too. And the masked killer haunting them is actually the Hollow's father, coerced by their unholy magic to suicide, and refusing to pass on so that he can finally bring down his children's killers? Chef's kiss. I loved the detail of him finding his children's discarded bodies in the Halfway place, and making graves for them to finally rest. I have a particular fondness for protagonists putting everything they have into fighting a big bad, just to find out that they were the bad they were fighting. And the characterization of our protagonist in this book as a mousy bookworm who just wants to escape the weirdness of her past adds to the twist.

A well-written book, with unlikeable characters that only adds to the ultimate payoff.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Torture, Biphobia, Blood, Body horror, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Murder, Self harm, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Cursing, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual assault

giulianalb99's review

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Rape, Self harm, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Addiction, Blood, Drug use, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Cursing and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

danaleelin's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Vomit, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Death, Cursing, Animal death, Gore, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Child death, Violence, Alcohol, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Blood

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Torture, Suicide, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

lvosler21's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Addiction, Child death, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Gore, Alcoholism, Drug use, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Suicide, and Violence

redefiningrachel's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Animal death, Child death, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Body horror

Moderate: Child abuse, Alcoholism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Sexual content, Alcohol, Mental illness, and Stalking

Minor: Drug use, Drug abuse, and Bullying

ellasara's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

oon ihan flabbergasted bamboozled enkä tiedä miten arvioida tätä joten annan neljä tähteä 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Suicide, Grief, Vomit, Stalking, Rape, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Medical content, Bullying, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

joyful_bookworm_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious

3.75

turned out a lot darker than i thought it would. really interesting concept tho. the writing/prose is very immersive, descriptive, and vivid. audiobook made it better since i can’t read in a good british accent lol. some similarities to cruel prince by holly black. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Death, Murder, Stalking, Vomit, Blood, Child death, Cursing, and Suicide

mermay's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.75

I feel like my whole review is going to be a spoiler, so I'll hide it a lot of it just in case. I never write reviews, this was a message to my best friend so this might be rough, but wow. Bruh. Okay. Bruh. This book. This book is amazing, it really is. Well-written, unpredictable, and engaging enough that I just spent the last 5 and a half hours reading it straight through without pause (until 3:30am). HOWEVER. It is very very dark.

It is also incredibly primally evocative creating fear, tension, and disgust by way of bodily fluids (vomiting, mildew, infestations of bugs, a few mentions of urine, and a lot of talk about rot and decay of death and dead things). It really painted a vivid picture in my mind while I was reading, it just didn't evoke pleasant things. I also don't know if I'd classify it with having a happy ending. I'm pleased with the way things turned out. Like I said, it's well crafted and this author did a really good job with character and plot development. I don't think there will be a sequel because it doesn't need one. I would rec solely based on the fact that it is a GREAT book, but you should know the rest of this stuff too before reading. Also, due to magical abilities that play a major role in the plot, non-con is a pretty strong theme throughout this story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Stalking, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Drug use, Dysphoria, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, and Trafficking

Specifics about a non-con scene between a teenage girl and adult man in the wrap.

There's a short...non-explicit, but potentially upsetting, scene that contains non-consensual kissing and touching between the main character and a man much older than her in a flashback. It doesn't go farther than a kiss, and it's stopped by someone who saves her, but she is definitely traumatized by it. The person who saves her says things to her directly following the assault that could be taken as victim-blaming. If you're reading the book in paper firm it's on pages 173-175 if you'd like to skip it.

chichisode's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, Vomit, Suicide, Stalking, Sexual assault, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Drug use, and Kidnapping

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Pedophilia, and Violence