Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

4 reviews

vixenreader's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

A classic teen horror novel, familiar troupes are elevated by themes of regret, gossip, presumptions, collective loss, and self-acceptance in spite of regret. Not to mention that it focuses on the interior lives of the victims instead of the villain. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child death, Death, Medical trauma, Gore, Murder, Blood, Body horror, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Stalking, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Toxic friendship, and Racism

Minor: Drug use, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Domestic abuse

The nature of the gore involves body mutilation, and there is graphic violence with knives. Narcissism in children and adults is explored throughout the text.

cady_sass's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

1.25

I am so mad at myself for finishing this book. This had every reason to be a DNF, but I convinced myself that there was a huge twist coming and it never did. 

The killer is revealed a little more than halfway in. I should’ve stopped there. But it was so early?! Surely it can’t be that simple? Alas, surely it can. And SO BORING and lackadaisical in the reveal too. For what? Oh, and the mysterious and dark and super top secret backstory of our main character that they hint towards the whole time? Huge let down, entirely irrelevant, and the actual core of the problem with that backstory is never addressed, at all, by any character even in the present. On top of that, all of the characters are unlikable (not in a good / on purpose way) or are completely random (as in, I don’t care about them or know anything about them) so the whole time you’re either like “ugh” or “who? Am I supposed to care?”

I feel so swindled. 1 star for the body horror and sorta graphic murdering, moderately impressive for a YA thriller. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Child death, Death of parent, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Violence, and Bullying

Hazing, underage drinking, divorce

michaelion's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

3.25

I love when teens sleuth. The ending was too quick unfortunately. Much to be explored.

I thought the killer's motivation was misogyny. After Rodrigo explained he wasn't a misogynist any more, I figured that was where the plot was going. But the killer's thing being he didn't want people to leave town is easier to sympathize with. Not valid, just kind of understandable.

If you liked this, you'll LOVE Jackal by Erin E. Adams.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Stalking, Violence, Sexual assault, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Blood, Gore, Misogyny, Abandonment, Bullying, Racism, Body horror, and Sexual content

Minor: Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Transphobia, and Death of parent

tkatt20's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

I needed a quick and interesting read and this book delivered. It read exactly like some of my favorite teen slasher films and had me devouring every page as the tension grew. The first 50 or so pages read more like a contemporary romance and was not what I was expecting but I stuck with it and and very quickly realized how necessary it was to lure you into a false sense of security. All of the characters were extremely well written and diverse. Each major character especially had their own trauma and flaws but it wasn't an excuse for the characters to be irrationally rude or unpleasant, which seems to be a trend with YA books I've read in the past. Every character seemed extremely fleshed out (no pun intended) and had their own personality and I was so shocked at how accurately this book portrayed the media and community response to the tragedies that were happening and how screwed up it was.

I highly recommend this book for any horror/slasher movie fans out there. Some other reviews mention that the killer'  motive wasn't realistic and ended up being disappointing but I didnt get that at all. I  was very realistic to me and terrifying since it shows that you never really know what goes on in someones head. There was a perfect balance of heart-pounding scenes and lighter and funnier moments in between so nothing became to over or underwhelming and the writing style was perfect for me. I loved these characters and if the author ever decided to bring them back for future books I would be first in line for a copy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Murder, and Stalking

Moderate: Abandonment, Bullying, Sexual content, and Vomit

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Car accident, Drug use, Suicide attempt, and Transphobia