Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Ghost Tree by Christina Henry

11 reviews

nrogers_1030's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Blood, Murder, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Grief, Gore, and Death

Moderate: Alcoholism

harleyqueen's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Loved it but at times felt like it read so fast that you would lose sense of what's happening. There is a town under a curse where once a year a girl has to be sacrificed to the ghost tree but when the wrong sacrifice is offered all rules no longer exist

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Eating disorder, Body horror, and Gore

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Alcoholism

mushio's review

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

The focus on sexualising underage girls, to the point that is the entire character of one, with no real reason makes it a weird read.

The ending felt quite rushed and dissapointing for all the build up it was given. Plot points were barely round up at the end.

The premise was quite fun though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Xenophobia, and Child death

Minor: Alcoholism

bastieboi's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Xenophobia, Pedophilia, Death, Child death, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Toxic friendship, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Vomit, Sexism, Alcoholism, and Eating disorder

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Eating disorder, Xenophobia, Vomit, Racism, Racial slurs, and Alcoholism

Minor: Sexual content

andromeda_1998's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The ghost tree is one of those books that isn’t really in my favorite genre but that I do like to read now and then. It’s refreshing to read something different. Now, what did I think of the ghost tree? 

Summary
This book is about Lauren and the other residents of the little town named Smith’s Hollow. There town is a quite peaceful one. Nothing ever really happens is Smith’s Hallow accept for the murder of Lauren’s dad of course almost a year ago. While her family is still healing from his death, strange things are starting to happen. Two broken bodies of out of town teens are found in the backyard of a villager and now it’s up to Lauren to find out the truth about the murders. 

Characters 
This is a though one. These characters are very well done but the aren’t written to please. They symbolize all different kind of people from Bigots to friendly mothers. There are characters with toxic ideals and there are characters that you will want to root for. Christina Henry doesn’t shy away from racism as well. If your looking for a book with lovable characters then this isn’t it. Are you looking for realistic characters? This might be the book for you. 

Worldbuilding 
The ghost tree is set in a world like ours so there isn’t a lot of world building but it has some twists that are well done. The only thing I miss is clear rules for the “magic/supernatural ” parts of this book. 

Plot 
The book started really strong but in the middle of the book it lost its flow for a bit. I feel like that has something to do with the repetition of the storyline. Towards the ending the book finds its way back on track. Just hand in there! 

Writing style 
Christina Henry had a way with writing that makes all the story’s she writes read like a fairytale. It’s a really compelling way of writing that I don’t get enough of. 

Overal thoughts 
This book is a good read for readers that are looking for a start in the horror genre. It’s fast, witty, a bit creepy but not to scary. I would recommend it to ages 14-18  but 14 years old is on the younger side of things. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, and Vomit

amarieb's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Murder, and Child death

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Racial slurs, and Sexual content

sarahasyouwish's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

I liked the creepy forest with something sinister and supernatural haunting the town. The element of people forgetting what was happening was interesting. I didn’t like the toxic female friendship at the center and the very unhealthy relationship one of them has with food. The book lacked suspense for me and crossed into the overly angsty YA territory for me, which prevented it from being more than three stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Gore, Racism, Racial slurs, and Murder

Moderate: Body shaming, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcoholism

mooska93's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

sheryl_macca's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

In Part 1 of The Ghost Tree we're introduced to siblings Lauren, 14 and David, 4. With the loss of their father still very fresh in their minds, they both start to experience unexplained visions but say nothing to anyone. They live with their frazzled mother in the small town of Smith's Hallow which in the mid 1980's is full of teen angst, bigotry and money worries. When two girls are brutally murdered the town has some strange ideas why.

Part 2 gives us the wisdom of Lauren and David's grandmother, Jo. She tells the children of the legend of Smith's Hallow. Her house on the hill, as the legend goes, was once home to three witches who placed a curse on the town.

Part 3 brings the tragic legend to life for the towns folk of Smith's Hallow and especially for Lauren and David. The founding families have been unknowingly bound together throughout the history of the town, until now. They are suddenly threatened by an anomaly in the curse which changes the future of Smith's Hallow and for everyone in it t .

The Ghost Tree is a fairytale mixed with lots of teenage drama. Although my copy of the book was listed as adult fiction it feels very YA. It reminded me of the TV series The Vampire Diaries but without the glossy beauty and sexiness. It's somewhat predictable and structurally simple but I enjoyed the escapism, the 1980's references and the budding awkward romances. The swearing is most definitely not YA appropriate but it's rare and shocking when it happens. The descriptions of the bodies are also too graphic for YA but not graphic enough for a horror devotee like me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Grief, Racial slurs, Racism, and Vomit

Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence, and Gun violence