Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Iron House by John Hart

1 review

cheye13's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-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

3.0

This was an extremely well-written book – the writing was surprisingly beautiful and the constant rotation of perspectives pushed the story forward. I was also surprised by sexist tropes this story managed to avoid. The graphic nature of the violence was a bit hard to handle, more horror-style than thriller-typical, I'd say.

However the tropes it did fall into were underwhelming, and perhaps more suited to 2011. The mental health portrayal is cliche and, I believe, mostly incorrect. (And Julian is severely neglected as a perspective despite being such a central character). The ultimate "villains" are shallow, the potential for nuance completely disregarded.

This was an entertaining read and very well-told but the story itself was a disappointment.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Self harm

Minor: Cursing and Drug use

A small effort is made to normalize schizophrenia, but the overall portrayal is rather extremely and likely harmful. If sensitive to such content, I'd recommend looking for own voice reviews. Sex work/prostitution is mentioned, always in reference to "deplorable" or "evil" women.