Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson

30 reviews

crybabybea's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Nothing crazy. Not bad, not amazing. Just a fun, twisty read with some good horror moments.

I wanted a bit more out of pretty much every part of this. For the first time I actually felt like this book was too short to accomplish a really good payoff. For some reason it felt simultaneously way too slow during the beginning and then way too fast at the end. I was especially disappointed by the characters and how quickly the relationships move. Marion was a bit of a confusing character considering her backstory, and Lisavet was almost compelling but just fell a bit short for me. I did enjoy the relationships between Marion and the other girls but still felt like they were quite flat.

The plot itself is interesting and there is just enough mystery threaded through the story that it keeps your interest. I can't say that the twist itself was particularly surprising, but I still enjoyed the journey there and the resolution after. 

There are a couple sapphic moments but the relationship is incredibly imbalanced power-wise and abusive, so don't expect a good time in the average sense of the word :)

The ending gave me Sucker Punch vibes which was cool.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cannibalism, Classism, Vomit, Medical trauma, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Medical content, Alcohol, Blood, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Physical abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Violence, and Sexual content

Moderate: Confinement and Gaslighting

Minor: Incest

Do NOT read this if you have a fear of needles. Also the cat does not die.

michellec9's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Blood

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Gore, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Torture, Sexual content, and Mental illness

brysonsmommie84's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Mental illness, Blood, Confinement, Cannibalism, Animal cruelty, Torture, Self harm, and Death

Teeth… loss and detailed pulling of…

squisheebee_'s review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Classism, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Bullying, and Child abuse

Minor: Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Death, Gaslighting, Eating disorder, and Self harm

shannonvonpesach's review against another edition

dark tense 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? No

2.0

Het verhaal is te vaag. Het is totaal niet duidelijk of het om vampieren gaat of edelen die koekoek zijn.

Het eind gevecht met het 'poppen' van de kaak en de arousel? Nee...

Ik ben dit gaan lezen vanwege de marketing over Elisabeth of Báthory, maar dit is slechts een inspiratie geweest voor het karakter en heeft er 0 mee te maken.

Ps: dit is een YA schrijfstyle dus geen adult boek.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Drug use, Cannibalism, Mental illness, Death, Torture, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship

that_guy_bo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Many of the reviews I'd read about this book focused heavily on the sapphic elements, so as a gay man, I wasn't sure if this one was "for me." But, the blurb had intrigued me, so I thought I'd give it a shot.
 And I have to say, this was one of the most gripping books I've ever read!

 I've raved about it to anyone and everyone at every possible opportunity, because it really doesn't matter what your sexual orientation is, this is an entrancing book.

  The scenery is dripping with every possible luxury, which makes the slowly mounting horror of the story stand that much starker against the decadent backdrop.

Additionally, as a huge fan of vampires, while this isn't technically a vampire story, it has all the trappings of one, and it certainly has the atmosphere! So if you're a fan of vampires, you'll very likely love this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Grief, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Chronic illness, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, and Addiction

Minor: Death of parent, Terminal illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Incest, Classism, and Chronic illness

scifi_rat's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Plot: 3.5★
Prose: 3.75★
Pace: 4★
Concept/Execution: 4★/3.75★
Characters: 3.5★
Worldbuilding: 3.75★
Ending: 3.5★

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Blood

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Classism, Murder, Physical abuse, Cursing, Self harm, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Chronic illness, Torture, Mental illness, Sexual content, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting, and Gore

Minor: Cannibalism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Animal death, and Child abuse

missbsbookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Body horror, Addiction, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Emotional abuse

zany25's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

4.25

I think this book might work best if you read it kinda fast because there are definitely some slowdown sections that might drag, but I found enjoyable anyways. To me this book is all vibes, gothic classist mean girl lesbian vampire vibes. Which I liked, I wouldn’t say the plot is terribly strong until the ending, but if you’re along for the ride it’s definitely easy to get pulled in.

Also I’ve drawn blood for work in the real world and their blood letting descriptions were pretty spot on, aside from the sprinkling of supernatural of course, I enjoyed how they described the veins and scarring as a nice realistic touch. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Classism, Drug use, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Domestic abuse, Death, Alcohol, Infidelity, and Sexual content

Minor: Mental illness, Self harm, Incest, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Terminal illness, and Addiction

tnm94's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Gore, Body horror, Mental illness, Self harm, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Animal death, Classism, Addiction, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Incest