Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

White Horse: A Novel by Erika T. Wurth

63 reviews

realhousewifeofthelibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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? No

3.5

This was beautiful. I really loved this, but it took about 100 pages for me to get fully engaged with this book. The pacing was slower than what I usually enjoy, but those who truly love a good slow burn will rate this higher. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual assault and Child abuse

mizmeeshell's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction and Drug abuse

Minor: Child abuse

hexedmaiden's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

3.5

 This was a slow burn.

We follow Kari who gets given a bracelet from her cousin that used to belong to Kari's mom. Which leads Kari to not only seeing the ghost of her mother but another entity too. 

Because of this haunting she decides to start looking into her mother's past and why she left Kari with her sick father. 

It's now the end of August as I retroactively write this review and I can only remember bits and pieces of this story. 

I definitely remember the reveal of Kari's mother's father being a pedo and her killer. But how we got there I don't remember because to be honest a majority of the story is unremarkable.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Alcohol, and Death of parent

Moderate: Pedophilia, Child abuse, and Murder

Minor: Sexual assault

ukponge's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Alcohol, Drug use, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual violence, Child abuse, and Pedophilia

julied's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Addiction, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Sexism, Vomit, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

pages_with_panda's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

1.5

Kari holds a lot of resentment towards her mother who left her when she was only days old. In his grief after she left, her father turned to alcohol and ends up with brain damage from an accident. 

Kari’s cousin gives her a bracelet that belonged to her mother and sets off a chain of events towards discovering the truth behind her disappearance. 

At first Kari thinks she’s going crazy when she starts to have visions, but discovers her mother is leading her to the truth of what happened all those years ago. 

The story was very slow to start; it seemed like it was setting up different directions but none of them really panned out and all were forgotten. All the evidence or hints that Kari got were practically handed to her and it took other characters to push her towards her mother. 

Also, I’ve seen this advertised as a horror but after reading it, I don’t agree at all. Unless that by mentioning Stephen King so many times it’s horror by proxy? 

There was also a section near the end where she visits the famous Overlook Hotel that Stephen King’s The Shinning takes place. This whole visit felt completely out of place but we didn’t stop hearing how much of a fan Kari is so I guess it was kind of interesting? 

The scenes were repetitive and the writing was a bit too boring. It felt very monotonous and monologuing at times. I got lost during the climax when we’re told

someone is wounded, apparently they got shot,  but that wasn’t clear at all from the text before hand?

The story doesn’t really get interesting until the few chapters and even then it wasn’t great. 

In the end I couldn’t find myself caring about what happened to any of the characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Alcoholism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, and Pedophilia

Minor: Racism

golderest's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Death

Minor: Child abuse

teatimewtrisha's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Murder, Suicide attempt, Grief, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Cursing, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Racism, Drug use, Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Vomit

sarahrose_a's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, Car accident, Alcohol, Murder, Physical abuse, Drug use, and Grief

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Toxic relationship

dahlia_boo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Murder, Addiction, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Cursing, Incest, Colonisation, Abandonment, Ableism, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Rape, Self harm, Gore, Grief, and Pedophilia

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Car accident