Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Man Made Monsters by Andrea L. Rogers

7 reviews

readingwithcoffee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Colonisation, Murder, Misogyny, Hate crime, Gun violence, Grief, Child death, Sexual harassment, Sexism, War, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Colonisation and Genocide

laryssa's review

dark emotional funny hopeful fast-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? It's complicated

3.5

I like a lot of the early stories and American Predators the most. Ama is the coolest and I could totally read a whole book about her. I really like the illustrations and think it adds a lot to the spookiness of the book. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Homophobia, Child death, Death, and Death of parent

jenna_smuszkiewicz's review

dark mysterious 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

4.0

I picked this book up on a  whim and I'm glad I picked it up! The illustrations are gorgeous in this. I also think it is cool how we follow a family from the 1830s to the future in 2039. I'm not Cherokee, and I really enjoyed learning some Cherokee words and seeing the syllabary used in the art in particular. There are some classic monsters in here like

vampires and werewolves

but also ones that I think are from Cherokee folklore. Some of the monsters featured here are everyday horrors we face and some characteristics of humans as well. I'm not that big into horror, and I didn't find this book to be that bad. Definitely look at content warnings though. 

My biggest critiques or personal preferences are that while separating it into chapters and jumping around the family tree was cool, I didn't get to really connect with the characters. I'm a big character reader so that's a personal preference thing. I think the jumping around does work for this book though and I get why it was done. Also, one big thing from the family tree that I don't understand:

How is Will Wilson's branch of the tree there? I thought he was the baby that died from the vampire in the first chapter. So, that really confused me.

If you are looking for a unique horror book that showcases many types of things that go bump in the night, I would highly recommend this!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Death, Grief, Animal death, Blood, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Rape, Domestic abuse, and Cultural appropriation

devynvictoria's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

This was so good! This is the first short story collection I’ve read and I will definitely be picking up more. I loved the illustrations before every story and the incorporation of the Cherokee language. I like the premise of following the same family through almost 200 years. My favorites were Man Made Monsters, Snow Day, and Lens. And I love the relationship between the father and his children in Happily Ever After. I definitely recommend! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Domestic abuse, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Medical content, Chronic illness, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Terminal illness

Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Lesbophobia, and Child abuse

kayladaila's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious 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? N/A

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Death, Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Gore

Moderate: Alcohol, Abandonment, Toxic friendship, Genocide, Racial slurs, Animal death, Child death, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Cancer, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Homophobia, Rape, and Child abuse

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

Short story collections are usually hit or miss for me, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one! The stories are just the right amount of spooky/creepy while also hitting on real world issues. I didn't realize the time connections until later in the book, but I think that's brilliant. Spanning a wide range of time, looking at the same family. It really creates an interconnectedness for the stories throughout.

Honestly, if you're looking for something a little bit creepy to read this October, I'd recomend this! The audiobook was fantastically done, and you get a wide range of monsters in it. Both huuman and non-human.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Murder, and Body horror

Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Child death

Minor: Child abuse, Body shaming, and Bullying

marywahlmeierbracciano's review

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

5.0

This collection of interconnected stories by Cherokee author Andrea L. Rogers will appeal to teens as well as adults.  Following the same family tree over 200 years, these tales of horror range from historical to futuristic and feature tropes and characters both feared and beloved.  Strong female leads are abundant and Cherokee language is speckled throughout (glossary included).  Man Made Monsters is the perfect decolonized spooky read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Violence, Death of parent, Blood, Cannibalism, Gore, Colonisation, Confinement, and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Genocide, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Medical content, Child death, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Pregnancy, Outing, Lesbophobia, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Vomit, Car accident, Classism, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Child abuse, and Slavery