Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

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

12 reviews

thewordapothecary's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

2.5

I come from a lineage where folk stories are passed down as the main form of teaching and entertainment. I’m finding it hard to establish how this anthology is considered “folk” and not just scary campfire stories? Is the setting the main part of what classifies them as “folk”? I’m just not sure. I appreciate the queer representation and I think it’s important we see that in our folk stories. I just wasn’t impressed by the majority of these. The cover is dope though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Drug use, Body horror, Cancer, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Murder, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Dementia, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

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

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

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

kaetheluise_nckl's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Stay - Erica Waters: 1/5 -> i read this one so long ago that i barely remember the plot. eh.

The Tallest Poppy - Chloe Gong -> 4.5/5 
-> Ms Chloe is the queen of vibes, but the ending was confusing so ???

Loved By All, Save One - Tori Bovalino: 5/5 -> i will eat up anything Tori writes and this whole book could have just been. an anthology of Tori’s mini-horror stories

One-Lane Bridge - Hannah Whitten: 4/5 
-> yes. strong horror vibes. loved to read it. but it’s not Tori Bovalino.

Ghost on the Shore - Allison Shaft: 4.5/5 
-> LET’S GO LESBIANS, LET’S GO!!!

Petrified - Olivia Chadha: 3.5/5 -> i could see what she was trying to do, but the amount of unexplained lore kinda backfired. but yeah, we love sacrificing annoying men in this house. 

Third Burn - Courtney Ghould: 5/5 -> WHERE IS THE REST OF THIS I NEED MORE!?!?!?!

It Stays With You - Aden Polydoros: 2.5/5 
-> listen. the horror vibes are so strong, but i just don’t vibe with suicidal thoughts and kids having cancer anymore. it hits too close to home. 

Truth or Dare - Alex Brown: 5/5 -> i could relate to this on a spiritual level. i’m glad homegirl got rid of him.

The Burning One - Shakira Toussaint: 0/5 -> someone explain to me what was going on here because i genuinely don’t know what i just read. 0% scary, 100% confusing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Body horror, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Blood, and Cancer

Minor: Rape and Suicidal thoughts

bookedandbusy's review

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

5.0

Such an incredible anthology! I loved how spooky and atmospheric each story was, perfect for the season! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Sexual violence

catapocalypse's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Enjoyable horror collection! Though it is YA, it was one of my most anticipated reads for the year, and I had a good time with it. It's generally pretty solid, though I wonder at what limitations were placed on entries, since a couple felt like they either struggled to fit into the brief length or even stretched a bit with repetition.

My personal favorite stories from the collection were "One-Lane Bridge" by Hannah Whitten, "The Burning One" by Shakira Toussaint, and "Petrified" by Olivia Chadha. I'd be interested in a longer work in the setting of the latter, especially!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Body horror

Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Bullying

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Racism, and Slavery

thesmutsister_emma's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Spooky Scary Skeletons

I usually don't stray outside of romance (or books I have to read for class) but this book's cover really caught my eye. I wanted something a little darker for Halloween season and this was perfect. There was no way I was going to be able to escape this book and I am so thankful for that. These stories were so amazing and had such a wonderful diversified cast. I liked the "lessons" being taught in the stories in this book and honestly had a great time reading it. I lost about an hour and a half on an already short night of sleep because of this book.

The Final Verdict
This is definitely a wonderful book for horror fans who want an anthology of horror stories. I will be recommending this to all of my horror fan buddies.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

Minor: Sexual assault