Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Horseman: A Tale of Sleepy Hollow by Christina Henry

11 reviews

priscillarobock's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Blood, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Death of parent, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Child abuse, Child death, and Violence

sonygaystation's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

The main character gas unbearable self loathing and toxic attitudes towards being alone and expressing emotion omg someone get this child some genuine attention stat. Idea was promising but it bored me and the characterization was all over the place, especially for gramps. Also the time skip section was truly so painfully uninteresting that when I fell asleep as my book ended and I didn’t hear the last 30 min - an hour of it I didn’t replay it before just returning it to the library and calling it a wash

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, Murder, Death of parent, Transphobia, Death, Blood, Grief, Child death, Animal death, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Sexual violence

Minor: Dementia, Terminal illness, Bullying, Kidnapping, and Rape

aparker89's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

My first Christina Henry novel and wow! This book packed SO much into 301 pages and I read most of them in the course of a single evening! This is a super FAST paced book, without being juvenile or leaving loose ends! The story is fully encompassing and urges you to keep going. I personally did not love the last 30ish pages BUT it did wrap up one last tendril of the story. The climax of the story is extremely well written, well thought out and not rushed through. 
I will definitely be reading more of her works!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Stalking, Deadnaming, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Transphobia, Animal death, and Child death

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Classism, Misogyny, and Torture

voilajean's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Transphobia, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Death of parent, Deadnaming, Child death, Bullying, Body horror, Blood, Animal death, and Acephobia/Arophobia

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

the_cat_of_mishief's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Death of parent, Sexism, and Deadnaming

Moderate: Racial slurs and Blood

Minor: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, and Suicidal thoughts

izzybell's review against another edition

adventurous 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Grief, Transphobia, Death, Violence, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Deadnaming, Child death, and Animal death

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

nrogers_1030's review

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Body horror, Bullying, Transphobia, Gore, Murder, Child death, Death of parent, Animal death, and Deadnaming

Minor: Cursing, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

bearbookshelf's review

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.25

While perhaps intended as a spooky autumnal read in agreement with Washington Irvine's original tale, this book was the perfect start to the new year both in its thematic range and the excitement it generates to push forward through the pages, goading the reader to race ahead of the chill crawling down their spine. Set decades after the chasing off of Ichabod Crane by Brom Bones' invented tale of the headless horseman, the tale is executed through the gaze of 14 year-old canonically trans character Ben. Ben is the son of Brom's son Benedix, who was mysteriously slain and left mutilated in the woods of Sleepy Hollow when Ben was just a baby. When a boy Ben's age is discovered in the woods mutilated just as his father, rumours begin to broil around the superstitious town of Sleepy Hollow, mixing the murder with mention of the Headless Horseman. In pursuit of the truth, Ben seeks to peel back the layers of superstition only to uncover the supernatural, and unknowingly sets himself on a quest of self-definition and discovery.

A trans reading by a trans reader:

The reviews of this book seem by and large to gloss over the queer representation. However, to me, this seems an essential component of the text and potential greater meanings. Featuring a canonically trans main-character, the book's main themes of lineage and inheritance, nature versus nurture, conscious self-creation, and the true meaning of love as rooted in not only tolerance but acceptance, take on a greater purpose and message most fully incapsulated in the thrilling conclusion that sees the ultimate rejection and defeat of long standing oppression and a symbol of the accepted unsavoury ways of the world. However, this progression can be tracked throughout in both the invention of the Horseman- a focal point of Ben's self-creation and self image- and the movement of Sleepy Hollow itself. It seems to me that so much more interest lies in this books pages beyond the continuation of a spooky tale or the goose-flesh and knotted stomach we feel as we read it. The nightmare of Sleepy Hollow takes on the qualities and movements of the search for self-definition that Ben's trans identity draws poignant attention to; more specifically, the monstrous nature often assigned to trans characters and foisted upon trans individuals themselves is taken on and shirked off simultaneously as the monster becomes the man and the man becomes the hero of his own story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Deadnaming, Death, Death of parent, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Transphobia

Moderate: Pedophilia, Grief, Sexual harassment, and Sexism

Minor: Rape and Cursing

atamano'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Cannibalism, Bullying, Child death, Gore, Violence, Transphobia, Animal death, Death of parent, Death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault, Classism, and Fire/Fire injury

kris_t97's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Interesting range of characters with a different take on the Sleepy Hollow/ Headless Horseman tale. A decent balance of human and supernatural horror as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Stalking, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder

Minor: Deadnaming and Animal death