Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala

7 reviews

erica_reads_things's review

adventurous mysterious 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? No

3.0

Not a bad YA read at all! And especially for this authors first novel. I liked the weird spin on the summer camp horror trope, but I was so confused most of the way through at where exactly this was going. It took me out of it a bit, but not enough to not enjoy it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Grief, Child death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Sexism, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Transphobia, Cancer, Hate crime, and Violence

Minor: Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Deadnaming, and Sexual content

bookishmillennial's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews because I don’t like leaving them. I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial
 
This was wild. Absolutely WILD. The last 20% is where all the meat of the story really is unpacked, but the first 80% had me guessing and wondering who to trust. This book felt like it could've existed in the world of Riverdale x Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, like a nefarious camp horror!! This elite summer camp setting in the Catskills Mountains was eerie and screamed "bad things will happen!" I loved the representation of Mars as genderfluid, but I was confused as to why no one else ever used pronouns besides he/him, when she made it clear that they use he/they/she? Maybe that was intentional to show that everyone around Mars was an "ally" but still fumbling and getting it wrong? They also constantly deadname him, which frustrated me. However, again, I'm guessing it was a deliberate choice to possibly evoke unease and tension from the readers? I'm totally projecting here lol!

Anyway, I appreciated the fact that I had no idea who to trust in this novel. Maybe that's obvious in a horror/thriller, that you shouldn't count anyone out. However, I could not for the life of me (!!!) tell if the Honeys were supposed to be the villains or in solidarity with Mars! It was exhausting to be me, and I think that just shows how talented Ryan La Sala is in their fleshing out of these characters, and how every single moment the Honeys shared with Mars left me guessing how I felt about the interaction. Was that meant to be helpful? Was that threatening? Do they know something? Are they just as scared? This was masterfully done!!! 

I'm excited to read more from Ryan La Sala, and this was the perfect book for me to let go of summer (like truly, fuck summer after reading this book. I want no part of it hahaha), and to welcome autumn and Halloween season! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Deadnaming, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, Child death, Murder, Sexism, Transphobia, and Blood

Minor: Sexual content

imstephtacular's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting

Moderate: Murder, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Blood, Homophobia, Grief, Violence, Transphobia, Body horror, and Bullying

Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, Misogyny, Mental illness, Sexual content, Medical content, and Sexism

sargjo's review

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Violence, Murder, Sexual content, and Torture

hschlecht's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious sad tense

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Torture, Transphobia, Murder, Child death, Death, Body shaming, Bullying, Kidnapping, Outing, Terminal illness, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

esme_may's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Beautifully written and unbelievably visceral. I just wish it had been a little shorter

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Cannibalism, Gore, Grief, Blood, Body horror, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Bullying, and Misogyny

Moderate: Deadnaming, Sexual harassment, Cursing, Sexual content, Transphobia, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Dysphoria, Terminal illness, Cancer, Death of parent, and Rape

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

Everyone’s always talking about creepy sentient fungi but now I only want creepy sentient bees and aspen trees. 

This book is real good. I could not put it down and was audibly gasping towards the end. Fantastic characters, ✨immaculate✨vibes (it’s giving Midsommar), and honestly a lot scarier than most of the adult horror I read. This story will stick with me for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Grief, Homophobia, Bullying, and Child death

Moderate: Gaslighting, Murder, Cancer, Body horror, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Gore, Death, Classism, and Cursing

Minor: Deadnaming, Hate crime, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Confinement, Medical content, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, and Suicide