Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Threadneedle by Cari Thomas

5 reviews

silversparkles50's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Torture, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Blood, Death of parent, Child abuse, and Confinement

thetiefenator's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

I enjoyed reading this book, and I do intend to read the rest of the series - the first book is definitely not meant to stand alone in my opinion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Grief, Body horror, Death of parent, Bullying, Death, Blood, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, and Violence

lucy_shanners's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Body horror, and Bullying

Moderate: Death of parent, Body shaming, Death, and Confinement

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

peachie97's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse and Body horror

jamierose's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

Threadneedle has a very specific vibe, its dark witchiness exaggerated by being played out alongside the drama and high emotions of a secondary school. It weaves together a number of plots strands, balancing the bully/revenge plot of the school with Anna's learning about magic, family secrets and who she can trust and the growing friendships and rivalries within the coven, including hints at a wider set of dangers that I expect to come into play in the sequels. In places it gets quite dark, both with unexpected magical consequences and in the way that Anna is treated, both in the present and in flashbacks, by her Aunt. 

There's some fantastic atmosphere and imagery throughout, though it took me a little while to sink into the world of the book as you're thrown in without a lot of explanation. Anna's internal conflicts and the complicated relationships she had with magic, her Aunt and Effie were in many ways the driving force of the book, but they felt true to her as a character, never like she was wavering for the sake of plot convenience or to drag things out. I liked that all the relationships in the book were complicated and messy. Some of the school-related plot felt a bit over-the-top and too much of a "mean popular girls" cliche, at least during the set up stage, but the fallout of it was still gripping, and satisfyingly dark.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Body shaming

Minor: Body horror