Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda

30 reviews

lisabourget's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

chainsawheartbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

"My therapist says when you talk out loud without stopping for a long time, and you really listen to yourself, the mysteries end up coming out of the tangle of your subconscious."

If Ojeda doesn’t become a big name in literary horror, alongside the likes of Jackson, Shelley and Poe, then no one should. 

Given how literary this book is, it took me a while to get through it, but that doesn’t mean this book isn’t horrifyingly beautiful and macabre.

Each character read so differently from one another, I loved diving into each character’s subconscious, seeing where their biases came in.

I’ve always found tales about cosmic horror and the occult fascinating, especially when consumed together; the aspect of putting an ethereal being into our reality in a way that doesn’t feel forced can be so difficult to do, but in my opinion Odeja handles this perfectly! 

Above all else, this tale is about friendship, puberty, motherhood, and the perception of an ideal self.

If you want a slower read that still leaves you a deep sense of horror, a feeling of seeing things in the light and hearing the fluttering of lashes in the dark, then you should put this to the top of your list!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

hauntedantiqueshop's review

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

3.75

well, I hated that ending. I felt it inching closer and closer to that and still. Really hated it. I wish the story focused more on the weird ass girls and their friendship rather than the teacher. Mostly because they’re CURRENTLY being little freaks and the teacher is a recovering (soon to be relapsed) freak.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Incest, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

idk how exactly to categorize it but uh. creepypastas? ft. a brief slenderman shout out

eceleste's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I struggled a lot with the writing style at points. just like Our Share of Night, it would regularly go on multi-page stretches with no paragraph breaks, leading me to wonder if perhaps this is a perfectly normal literary convention in south america or at least for writers of literary horror there .... but this was really good once I got into it. I especially loved the chapter which was annelise's essay about fear/white horror/cosmic horror..that was really interesting. and I was really intrigued by what was going on with the girls at their meetings in the building and I also really liked the epistolary format. the ending felt so gaping wide open which I wasn't as much of a fan of but ah well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Animal death, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

oliviapincin's review

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, and Classism

fernandaptln's review against another edition

dark reflective tense 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Incest, and Stalking

Minor: Animal death

mondovertigo's review

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Lesbophobia

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Gun violence

kmacdo23's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This novel is a revelation, a scream trapped in the throat of a teenage girl, a rosary made of strangers' teeth. One that I would pray upon, with reverence. This is a lesson I would sit through again. This is a volcano errupting and there's nowhere you can go to escape. I was so unsettled. I was held so tenderly by this story.

Welcome to The White Age. Explore the horrors of teenage girlhood. The horrors of womanhood. This novel twists the relief of being recognized as the fucked up girl that you are with the religions of desire and violence. 

What would you do for someone you love as the other half of yourself,  the completion of you? Everything? Everything, and all the brutality that implies. 

What is a scary story, a monster, a fear, but something kept alive by the same unwitting people that fall victim to its effect. Come see what you could keep alive. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

meika_one's review

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This book is very atmospheric and literary.  It explores the emotional substrate of how people process fear and terror.  There aren't any supernatural elements, so it read as psychological thriller to me.  Similar to Apt Pupil, but more cosmic.  It skates on the blade edge of innocence.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

seawarrior's review

dark tense

5.0

Endlessly disturbing and breathtakingly creative, Jawbone is a story of adolescent daring and purity that descends into violence. Ojeda's use of language, bodily disgust, and topical pop culture references create a story that is unique to the point of mythological. The horror draws the reader in and then clamps down its teeth, culminating in an ending soaked in madness and terror. One of the greatest horror stories I've ever read, and not recommended for the faint of heart.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Excrement, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Death of parent, Outing, and Sexual harassment