Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Last Heir to Blackwood Library by Hester Fox

4 reviews

prairieraven's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Finished in a sitting. Good Gothic Academia vibes with some sinister magic. Pacing and Flow was a bit of a struggle after the halfway point however after finishing it made sense. I found some of the secondary characters as frustrating as the FMC did. Good character growth. Struggled to read this one without the reader warnings for myself. 

good fit for readers who enjoy historical fiction with alchemical touches, books set after WW1, FMC, a little bit of magic, books about book, manuscripts and libraries and Thier caretakers.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

amberinpieces's review against another edition

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Vomit, Dementia, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and War

the_crooked_neighbor's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

1.5

This book stressed me out. I wish the description more accurately portrayed what the book would be about and I wish it had trigger warnings. I take part of the blame for not checking more thoroughly beforehand. If you like mysteries with psych horror elements you might like this. If you saw this and thought, "I love books about books," take a strong pass.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Dementia, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual content, Torture, Medical content, and Medical trauma

A heavy focus of this book is

memory loss. As we see the story through the eyes of the person with memory loss, it builds a tense sense of anxiety as we see her struggling to confront the fact that she is slowly losing her mind. Proceed with caution if loss of autonomy and sense of self will trigger you.

latelygrace's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

I don’t know how I keep ending up with the weirdest books, but here we are again. What a whirlwind, and not in a good way. It has a promising concept, and took me by surprise by taking a swift left turn into an attempt at a modern gothic narrative. Then it became increasingly clear that it was written by an American who knows just enough about English aristocracy to totally misuse it and in her rush to include so many different elements and plot devices the author felt like she was alternately lost in her own story and then rushing ahead of herself. The “magic” builds up for 3/4 of the book, only to be resolved unsatisfactorily in the course of a few pages. The literary trend of dual storylines spanning history was clumsy and not fully developed. The characters of the past more literary device than developed characters though the reader is clearly supposed to feel some connection toward them. Not to mentioned the rushed romance squeezed into the last chapters. Threads that were tied off were done so too quickly and haphazardly and several others were left to dangle as the author completely shifted focus in the end. Anyway, not at all what I expected and tbh I don’t really know what to rate it so I’m going to go middle of the road again with 2.5  ⭐️ or maybe a straight 2 for  making me read the last few chapters of “romantic” nonsense. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, War, and Classism