Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Ghost Woods by C.J. Cooke

9 reviews

lyndsayscan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror and Pregnancy

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Dementia, Animal death, and Rape

ellenigrace's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious

4.5

Great plot and great Gothic vibes but I struggled to differentiate between the dual timelines because the narrators' voices were so similar.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Pregnancy, Dementia, Confinement, Death, Rape, Blood, Grief, Animal death, and Body horror

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Car accident, Lesbophobia, Abortion, Infidelity, and Homophobia

camelia_martin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

Finished this book in around 8 hours! It was gripping for a while, then it started becoming a bit boring like the plot building was taking too long.. then suddenly - bang, a revelation to keep you hooked

I really thought Mabel was a ghost until finding out she’s alive in the shed!

Those little revelations really kept the intrigue, and the way the seemingly unlinked characters and their lives became interlinked was incredible. 
I had a gut feeling about how Mabel was pregnant and despite turning out to be correct I was still shocked by the way it was revealed. 
I feel like Wulfie’s storyline was a bit rushed at the end - I really wanted to feel more for his character. The hints

like him slipping up and calling his “grandad” dad a few times

were great foreshadowing. 

I will say I didn’t find it scary, though I don’t find horror/thriller or gothic horror books to be scary anyway, but I did find myself reading faster and faster as I hit the last 100 pages. 

Mrs W’s situation was predictable

they mentioned the cordyceps taking over a host body so many times throughout the book, and her few sudden flips in behaviour couldn’t have been due to a personality disorder, so her being taken over by the curse woman was obvious

Overall though an enjoyable book that kept me wanting more! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Animal death, Grief, Child abuse, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Dementia, Pregnancy, Rape, Child death, Classism, Death, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Sexism

dungareece's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I can’t even begin to express how much I fell in love with the women in this book. Their stories, their strengths, their vulnerabilities. I am so not ready to leave their world behind. 

It is deliciously gothic and eerie with the suitably damp, dark and mushroom infested setting of a secluded Scottish mansion, Lichen Hall. Lichen Hall doubles as a mother and baby home for unwed mothers. The history of which I was only vaguely aware of prior to reading this book. 

I adore a book with multiple narrators, and CJ Cooke is so wonderful at braiding seemingly unrelated narratives together in the  most intricate ways. This book is the perfect love letter to women and being othered from society. Beautifully sad stories of motherhood and queerness are intertwined with a wonderful sprinkling of magic. A full on rollercoaster of emotions, I had moments of being in tears followed by moments of kicking my feet in joy. 

Ps I have never cried at an authors note before so that was new

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Dementia, Grief, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Misogyny, and Rape

Moderate: Animal death and Vomit

Minor: Homophobia

louisegraveyard's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pedophilia, Fire/Fire injury, Lesbophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Rape, Sexism, Gore, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

dogearedbooks's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Grief, Pregnancy, Child death, Sexism, Animal death, Blood, and Rape

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Body horror

Minor: Car accident and Bullying

lulubeth's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Infidelity, Rape, Bullying, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Chronic illness, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Dementia

honeygore's review

dark 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: Pregnancy, Murder, Medical content, Death, Blood, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Animal death and Child death

_teoeo's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

The rating for this book is indeed a bit tricky to me. 
I enjoyed the storyline and after reading the author's note I understood the plots intentions even more. I liked that it had lesbian representation and a lot of sapphic characters. And the ghothic atmosphere, yes!! 
However, what destroyed the reading experience a little for me was the writing. I was really surprised because I've read The Lighthouse Witches and in that book the writing was really good. But in this one it seemed rather loveless, tbh. It's not that I dislike reading first-person-perspective in general but I think a third-person-perspective would suit this book and plot a lot more. 

But all in all it was an enjoyable read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Child death, Pregnancy, Rape, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, and Animal death