Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

69 reviews

mariacalvo's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

ilana_pop's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

2.0

This had so much potential to be a really strong and poignant story. There were great elements that, with a different approach, could've made for such an interesting book, both a great thriller and a book with lots of  discussion points to reflect. But it was not. Boooy, was it not.
So many unnecessary characters, so much trauma and psychological damage for no reason, dangerous and harmed characters just for showelement (quite unethical imo).  And Jezus was the main character annoying. Sadly enough a very obvious female-character-written-by-a-male-author, and this has nothing to do with the fact she was annoying. Every man she meets makes her 'uncomfortable'. Just for the sake of making the reader think that he might be the murderer.

Mariana might have been certain about the murderer being Fosca, but did anyone honestly believe he did it? The fact that she was convinced it was a man, because only a man could be so full of hate and kill someone in such a cold-blooded way... Only for it to be a woman?

The plottwist at the end came literally out of nowhere, no indications throughout the entire book for the ending to make sense.
This could've been so good, but it really was not in my opinion. It was scary, I'll give it that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Animal death

sunsetcity's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

km_loves_books's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Alcohol

jasminewright's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

NO BECAUSE THIS WAS SO EFFING CRAZY. This year, I have been on a really big kick of contemporary retellings of Greek Mythology. I must say, I wasn't quite expecting the books to be this dark and twisted but I was totally into it. I don't normally re-read books, but I would read this again just to pick up on some things that I missed before. The twist was absolutely shocking. I mean, I was totally shook. The writing was great and entertaining from beginning to end. The short chapters are a favorite of mine. I will say, check the trigger warnings before reading this book because there are a lot of dark things that occur. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

iamaemmafan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

melissavb's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

Like I think this was a fun and quick read, but also nahh??? That plot twist actually was one step too far for me tbh. It was a bit too wild and a bit too unfunded? Like I have too many question… 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, and Grief

meadow_witching's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Death of parent, and Alcohol

alcove6's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Blood, and Murder

hoshi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Incest, and Stalking

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Sexual content