Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Raven King by Nora Sakavic

33 reviews

wynterymess's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Car accident

Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Eating disorder, Gore, Gun violence, Grief, Death of parent, Acephobia/Arophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

fa1ryts's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

bigpenis's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

bisquii's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Most of the characters are terrible people, but lovable in their own way. 

PLEASE READ TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFORE READING! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

I just put all the content warnings in the ‘Graphic’ section because this series basically has all of them in your face at one point or another. WARNING! This book shows a graphic sexual assault scene! Book 1 mostly implies it happening in a character’s past but in this book there is an actual scene! Please be careful!!

fanboyriot's review against another edition

dark 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

Read For:

Good Humor

Chaotic Gays

Found Family

Fictional Sport

Hurt/Comfort… Mostly Hurt

Ugh, the relationships in this book really develop so much and it’s so good.  The plot really comes to life, problem after problem shows up and Neil is just stupidly there.

I used to not like this book as much as the other two, the angst was just too much but after so, so, so, many re-reads I love seeing how the characters develop, how the relationships build, platonic and romantic, Neil shares more, learns more about Andrew and it’s actually written really well.

Plus it’s super funny to re-read this and see just how much of a simp Andrew Minyard is for Neil so early on.  It’s something I don’t remember noticing through my first read but no I can’t unnoticed it.  Neil just being like, “I just asked.” the whole time.  Meanwhile, the foxes are just staring at him horrified Andrew didn’t kill him yet.

The end with Wymack picking Neil up at the airport after Christmas gets me every time, the emotional damage, the wholesomeness of David Wymack doing everything for his Foxes.  So good and so damn depressing all at once.  Pain and suffering but also iconic quotes and laughing at a short little blond man with knives simping for a pathological lair who is very much not “fine” at any point in his life.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (5/5)

Release Date: 10, July 2013

POV: Third Person

Spice: n/a

Rep: Demisexual (MC), Gay characters, Mental Illness

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Self harm, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Alcohol

spaghettii's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

violet_oops's review against another edition

dark emotional funny fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Addiction, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Car accident, and Death of parent

kiwikitten's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Pedophilia, Self harm, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

nicska's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Medical trauma

Minor: Addiction, Self harm, Sexism, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

books_onthe_ground's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This series, man. This series. There is the notion that the middle book of a trilogy is always the worst or just not as good as the others (see filler books). The Raven King however is just as good as the other 2 in the series. This is 100% down to the amazing structure of the trilogy as well as the killer character development and dialogue. The structure and pacing of this series actually blows me away and is something I always come back to when I’m talking about these things in class, to friends or students, it’s always my go to when people ask for examples. The reveal of information, the plot twists, the build-up to major plot moments, they are all incredibly written and engage the reader so well. 

My only real complaint about the book and this is true for the final book as well, is that every so often there is a kind of recap? So characters get introduced again and we are reminded about events in the previous books, almost like a ‘previously on All for the Game’ as if it was a TV show. This is annoying and does take you out of the book and I found that it breaks some of the tension for me, but yeah that’s the only thing I found that I didn’t like about the writing. 

The characters, again, are incredibly written and the character development is well paced out and believable. These characters have amazing continuity, and you can tell the author had their developments, motivations, personalities etc. etc. all written up and decided as every decision made, every piece of dialogue or one liner, every reaction is exactly how you expect the character to be and there isn’t a single moment where I thought something was out of place for them. It’s incredibly impressive and something I rarely see. 

I have so much love for this series. It’s a heart attack waiting to happen; full of tension that feels like when someone in a horror movie is walking right towards the killer, and you are screaming at the screen for them to not open the door. I could rant about this series for ever and this book is no exception. It’s a difficult read in places and I mean that. Please look up triggers for this book. However, issues are handled with care and taken incredibly seriously, they are never used for just shock or for plot points. These characters have gone through and continue to go through absolute hell, and it stays with them. It's part of who they are, and they react as you would think, and the experiences deeply affect them for the rest of the book. Trauma doesn’t go away and oh my god I’m so thankful for this series for handling issues in such a good way and showing that actions have consequences and people don’t just get over things. So often characters simply get over their trauma or act like it never happens, like it has no effect. The character’s grief and reactions make them some of the most believable characters I’ve read about. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Drug use and Homophobia