Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno

8 reviews

cheyanndow's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Gore, Murder, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Death of parent, Police brutality, Self harm, and Death

caroisreading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

More than a horror story, this is a love story laced with tragedy and grief. There are supernatural elements that make this a creepy, wild read, and an unreliable narrator who makes us second-guess what is actually happening. 

This book is written from the perspective of Thiago writing to his wife, the love of his life who lost her life to a random accident, only a few months prior. He is still processing his grief and anger, and we sort through his memories together. Then the creepy elements start to appear, like the Alexa-inspired speaker that seems to be haunted. Only Thiago, his wife, and his mother-in-law seem to witness these strange events. As he makes the move away from Chicago and this mysterious darkness, he realizes he's being followed. Layered within this is his in-between identity, being Mexican and American, feeling like he carries the ancestral curse of any family wrongdoings -- racism and the polarizing discourse on immigrants as background themes. 

For me, this story was bleak (rightfully so?) and unraveled in a messy way, continuously confirming there's only darkness in the end, "life is life." I think any comedic undertone got lost on me.

I was so excited to read a Chicagoan author's work, and really appreciated Gus Moreno's writing style -- sparse enough to read with ease, but decorative and meandering where it needed to be. 

You'll like this if you're into horror and supernatural concepts, bicultural perspectives, stories that reflect grief and loss of loved ones.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Gore, Self harm, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Medical content, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

kirahaycock21's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

This book was actually super well written. I literally couldn’t put it down- I read it in one sitting. It was confusing though, but I think that was deliberate on the authors part. There was a lot of symbolism, and it could be interpreted a lot of different ways. But I loved the simple writing style and the way it addressed the feelings behind losing a loved one. Some parts of it were genuinely scary too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Mental illness, Blood, Cursing, Gore, Animal death, Body horror, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Deportation, Death of parent, Hate crime, and Cancer

Minor: Rape, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Vomit

killmoore_'s review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense

• 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

4.5

I finished this, looked at my husband and said "I can't wait to read this again".

This Thing Between Us gutted me. It is a horrific and heartbreaking take on the process of grief, and the isolation and guilt that so often follows losing someone we love in a way that we have convinced ourselves was preventable. 

I loved the small reveal regarding the format of our story, and honestly the jumbled, erratic time line did it for me here - it was written as a memory and clearly comes across as such. The body horror is graphic, the imagery is beautiful, and the portrayal of grief is so spot on that I reached out to hold my partners hand multiple times throughout. 

I was slightly disappointed that we didn't delve deeper into the "haunted itza" story line, and the reason behind the haunting itself fell a bit flat for me, which is why this isn't a 5 star read for me. However, I'm not disappointed, and I look forward to picking this up for a second time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Self harm, Violence, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Animal death, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Blood, Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

mlewis's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Grief, Suicide attempt, Violence, Xenophobia, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicide, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Medical content, and Alcohol

Moderate: Terminal illness

Minor: Miscarriage

bitchigo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Body horror, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness

geeters14's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Self harm

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Alcohol and Animal death

riella_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

 This was such a weird and strange book. It started off a little slower than I would have liked but then it was like you were thrown into everything all at once. I will say it was a little confusing at times, especially the ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Animal death, Dysphoria, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Alcohol, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Body horror, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail