Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Boatman's Daughter by Andy Davidson

19 reviews

llsburg's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book is reminiscent of many things, with traces of Flannery O'Conner, Dean Koontz, Clive Barker, and Delia Owens' <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4829834185"Where the Crawdads Sing</a></i>. But, it is still something unique and all its own. A little bit Southern lit, a little bit horror, a little bit female heroine adventure. You are never quite sure what is happening in our world and what is happening in some spiritual realm.

Davidson's language is rich and spooky, full of metaphor to set the tone. The sky can be a "cage"; trees have "bones." His characters are still more strange, not just mentally but physically as well. The visuals in this story are vibrantly weird. The language can also be somewhat obscure, leaving the reader disoriented and unsettled. All of this sets the stage for a creepy, startling read. And I loved it!

Young, orphaned Miranda Crabtree is making a life for herself on the Texarkana bayou. An impressive archer, she lives off the land an dmakes extra money ferrying drugs for a has-been cult leader who is going dangerously insane. Miranda, along with a witch who interacts with several powerful spirits, helps raise a disfigured boy who may or may not have once been dead. Things become complicated when she rescues a clairvoyant young girl from the corrupt and corpulent sheriff, a giant with a skull face, and the mad preacher. Can she trust the hard up dwarf she has been working with?

A completely new reading experience for me. The supernatural doesn't overtake the real-life story, but it is eerily there. I 10/10 recommend this book, with a trigger warning for violence and extreme gore.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Violence

marrowandmoss's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

This one is definitely a challenge. If you're a fan of the Southern Gothic style, this is definitely for you.

It can slow down in parts, but to me it felt like a reprieve. This is a story of trauma, family, magic, and the secrets that can hide in the bayou. 

The descriptions are vivid, I knew exactly the kinds of places he was talking about. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Blood, Car accident, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual violence

btaylorb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Drug use, Gore, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Sexual assault, and Murder

ser_gray's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual harassment

Minor: Suicide

shysheepys's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

4.75

The Boatman's Daughter starts slow, in the first chapter, but from there it goes FAST. Intertwining stories, all in a fucked up small town, blend together to create the narrative of Miranda Crabtree and her fight for her found family. This was WEIRD, but I loved learning the Slavic folk lore within. I wanted nothing more than the best for Miranda, Littlefish, and the girl, and I think thats what kept me reading. I loved this, even the fucked up bits that made me squirm. Not for faint of heart, will make you squeamish and also cry. Spoilers:

My only grievance is that some of the folklore mmonsters felt really shoed in. Even when there was a setup for them, there weren't enough signs that, hey, maybe this wasn't just a murder, maybe there was more to it. Still, at the end, everything got tied together.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

rock_island_witch's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book was a fast and easy read. In three days I read all 400+ pages and did not want to put the book down. It had a great mix of action and occult as well as a fine cast of characters. It ended pretty much as I thought it would, but I was not disappointed. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Abortion, and Murder

mlewis's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Confinement, Xenophobia, and Vomit

Minor: Car accident and War

sandybree7's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

blacksphinx's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

1.0

I only finished this book due to a reading challenge and having nothing else to listen to at work. Why did everyone wanna fuck the protagonist so bad? T_T

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Torture, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Body horror, Confinement, and Trafficking

A main character is a little person who is always called, even by the narration, "the dw*rf" and occasionally "the m*dget." Explicit whorephobia, including the mass murder of full-service sex workers.

directorpurry's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Confinement, Infidelity, Slavery, and Trafficking