Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

The Gathering Dark: An Anthology of Folk Horror by Tori Bovalino

9 reviews

naomidanae's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

I like quite a few of these stories. Some of them I’m not sure I would consider folk horror, but they’re still a nice collection. There’s one story that was difficult to read as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, so be careful of that if needed. 
There were a few stories that were kind of forgettable, and a few felt like they were episodes from a modern horror TV series (derogatory). Overall, worth the read for the good ones, though! 

A few quotes:
“Don’t you owe more to the living than to the dead?”
“There’re worse things than not being part of a family.”
“I didn’t know why it hurt so much, why I was still so angry. It could have been worse, it could’ve been far worse, it’d been nothing I hadn’t done to myself, so why was it so hard to just let it go?”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Blood, Child death, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Death, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Violence

bex47's review

dark mysterious fast-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? It's complicated

2.25

Yeaahhhh this one didn't really do it for me. It was a fun enough quick read, but none of the stories really stuck with me; I read the book in one sitting and couldn't remember half of the stories by the end. None were completely awful, but none were bringing anything new to the genre, and the collection didn't really feel like the folk horror that it was advertised as. There wasn't nearly enough focus on classic folk elements, and most of the stories felt more like urban legends at best. "Petrified" had some of the focus on nature that I would've liked, had the writing and pacing caused it to be my least favorite. My favorites were probably "It stays with you", "One Lane Bridge", and "Truth or Dare", but even those didn't do anything revolutionary. Unfortunately, a letdown overall, and left me wanting a lot more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Death of parent

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Genocide, Murder, Pedophilia, Blood, Colonisation, Alcohol, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Grief

Minor: Toxic friendship, Dementia, and Toxic relationship

ceilisbookshelf's review

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Terminal illness

spookily's review

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Violence, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Classism, Pedophilia, Grief, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Torture, Vomit, Car accident, Alcoholism, and Bullying

Minor: Cursing, Dementia, Cannibalism, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Rape

bgibs122's review

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

There are some real high highs in this collection (“Stay,” “Ghost on the Shore,” “Petrified”), but there’s also like, one too many that didn’t quite sing for me the way I wanted them to. First delve into horror, though, so that’s neat and fun.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Slavery, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, and Pedophilia

kristensonlyhobby's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.25

Short stories ranked:

1. One-Lane Bridge
2. Ghost on the Shore
3. Loved by All, Save One
4. It Stays With You
5. Third Burn
6. The Tallest Poppy
7. The Burning zone
8. Stay
9. Petrified
10. Truth or Dare

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror and Blood

Minor: Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Cancer, and Rape

readingwithkaitlyn's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Pedophilia, Grief, Child abuse, Death, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Alcoholism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Bullying and Cancer

Minor: Homophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Racism, Rape, Infidelity, Car accident, Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Fire/Fire injury

Medical issues, abuse, overdose, illness, drowning, missing child, neglect.

dsarbear's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Child abuse, and Sexual assault

mals_reads's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

This was a gorgeous collection of modern YA horror with something for everyone. A diverse cast of authors lends itself to unique stories and ideas, many of which involving queer characters and characters of color, and a few of them actually contributed to some nightmares!

I really enjoyed this anthology and its introduction to new authors for me as well. Atmospheric, a nice pace for each of them, and strong, sometimes monstrous, women to boot. Support women’s wrongs 🗣

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol and Body horror

Minor: Cancer, Sexual assault, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, and Suicidal thoughts