Reviews tagging 'Deadnaming'

Horseman: A Tale of Sleepy Hollow by Christina Henry

23 reviews

hexedmaiden's review

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

4.75

This has to be one of my favorite retellings of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 
At the start I was worried especially when we're getting the story from an original character instead of a character from the original text, but I should know to trust Christina. Because I just loved our main character, Ben. I really loved that this character was queer on page and I personally saw him being ace too, but that's me. I also found the ending so much more satisfying than what I thought was going to happen. 

Anway, I love the way Christina Henry takes on these stories and does something truly original and unique with them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Gore, and Death

Moderate: Deadnaming, Child death, and Death of parent

Minor: Rape, Domestic abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

belsbooks06's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming and Transphobia

typedtruths's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

sadly, not my favourite christina henry. a little flat. easily could have been a novella. i think it would have packed more of punch that way

▷ Representation: Ben (mc) is a trans man.

Blog • Trigger Warning Database • StoryGraph 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Misogyny, Transphobia, Sexual assault, Death, and Deadnaming

Moderate: Death of parent, Pedophilia, Body horror, Grief, Murder, Child death, and Blood

➸ Trigger warnings for period typical misogyny and transphobia, misgendering and deadnaming, attempted rape of a minor, minor body horror, blood and gore depiction including the mutilation and decapitation of the murdered children's bodies, grief & loss depiction, death of a son/father from self-sacrifice recounted, death of a daughter-in-law/mother from illness recounted, and death of a grandmother and grandfather (on-page), murder.

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

reading_ani's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

“Listen for me. I am the legend of Sleepy Hollow. I am the Horseman.“

I absolutely love, love, looooove this book! Christina Henry has once again proven why she’s one of the best storytellers or rather re-tellers of known stories. Everyone knows the story of the headless horseman, but this genius reinterpretation shines with brilliant twists and a sequel as to how the story could have possibly continued after Washington Irving’s last words were written. Our main character is Bente, aka Ben. The grandchild of the famous Brom Bones and Katrina. After years and years of peace, the headless horseman has returned to Sleepy Hollow…something dark is lurking in the woods and it’s killing children. But why now and has the headless horseman truly returned or is something/someone far more sinister hiding in the shadows? I loved the entire story throughout and though the ending was heavily foreshadowed, I still couldn’t hide a giant smile once it finally happened. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Child death, Deadnaming, and Body horror

Minor: Bullying and Fire/Fire injury

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