Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh

16 reviews

al_davies_jones's review

challenging dark emotional 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Vomit, Murder, Violence, Death of parent, Blood, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail

rheagoveas's review

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Violence, and Self harm

jcapati's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Child abuse

Moderate: Incest, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Blood

mollylikethedrug_'s review against another edition

emotional tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Misogyny, and Self harm

Minor: Miscarriage, Death, Grief, and Rape

hettyreads's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Violence, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Rape, and Torture

jessdownes's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Vomit

Minor: Animal death and Alcohol

agustdefault's review

challenging dark slow-paced

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

4.0

i loved the way this was written. i know there are a lot of complaints about the ending being so vague but i actually kind of liked it. especially since the reader only has as much knowledge as the sisters. incredibly haunting and definitely one i will think of often

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Torture, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Miscarriage, Child abuse, and Sexism

Moderate: Blood, Child death, Grief, Gun violence, Vomit, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Incest

sc1398's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.25

I couldn’t put this book down. It disturbed me so much but I NEEDED to know what would happen next! It was mysterious and gripping in the deepest ways possible. It was a great read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child death, Blood, Physical abuse, Torture, Confinement, and Pregnancy

Minor: Self harm

nabila99's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

 my first thought as i read this was: i don’t understand why the average rating for this book is so low!

the water cure is a gorgeously written and atmospheric exploration of abuse, trauma, family dynamics, loneliness, and survival as women. we follow the lives of three sisters, mainly the elder two, in their isolated, cult-like family that has convinced them that men are mortal threats to them, and that their abusive “therapies” are the only way to remain strong and unaffected. except one day, when a trio of men arrive on their island, testing their resolve. 

this is not an easy book to read - the abuse detailed in it is graphic, and the pain, loneliness and stockholm syndrome of the sisters is very heavy. i’m not a big fan of the revelations or the ending, and i wouldn’t call this a “feminist dystopia”, but i was enthralled by this slow-paced, eerie, heartbreaking story.
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Bullying, Gun violence, Eating disorder, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, and Drug use

Minor: Suicide

annablume's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The second part was a bit of a slog for me but I loved the ending. A lot of untied ends and completely unreliable narrators.
The prose is phenomenal, dreamy, very of its setting, but the narrating characters have uniquely deleveloped voices.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Vomit, Child abuse, Blood, Grief, Misogyny, Sexism, and Torture