Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

5 reviews

sxndaze's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

It was early October, but in the strong, direct light of the morning sun, it was still warm. Fall was here, winter coming right behind it, but for now there was still a little good riding weather left.

a festive horror read! it dragged for me at parts tbh. i liked reading about vic discovering her abilities with the shorter way and those affects. 

hill writes complex relationships well when he has the time and space to flesh them out. i didn’t like her interactions with lou very much because there wasn’t much to like, but after wayne gets taken, their relationship feels so much more solid.

some hits and quite a few misses in here for me, but overall a good time (especially the last third)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Sexism

emilyspex's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

There were things about this book I loved and things that I hated. I loved the characters and the story, but the way the author writes really got to me. Why would a child hold another child "like a lover"? Why did he have Lou and Vic fall in love when he was 20 and she was 16? Why did the author include a racial slur in the middle of his book? Also, if I heard one more description of sweet, kind-hearted Lou as a fatty fat fat landwhale manatee fatso, I might have had a stroke. Honestly, I'm fine with having a character's fatness be an issue or struggle, but the author described this wonderful character as if he hated his guts.

There were long stretches where I enjoyed this book, but I would really struggle to recommend it to anyone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Self harm, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal death, Rape, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Murder, Racism, and Sexism

ranocchietto's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I enjoyed the novel, I particularly liked the well-rounded characters, how each had its distinctive "voice" and the descriptions matched their personalities.

The book deals with cycles of trauma, growing up and the loss of innocence, and how people close to us make a difference in our lives, it was quite moving at times.

I would say my main problem was with the pacing, it felt unfocused towards the last third, it would have benefited from fewer digressions. I also felt the tone towards the end didn't match the tension the author was probably going for, but it didn't really spoil the experience for me.

Do check the content warnings before reading, it can get a bit heavy. The fatphobic undertones made it quite uncomfortable for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Sexual assault, Gore, Child abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Death, Stalking, Domestic abuse, Rape, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Cancer, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Incest

melodyseestrees's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

1.75

Caution: There are animal deaths that get way more detail and time than the final deaths in the book.

You don't even see Vic die on page you just know she's gravely injured and then her son recollects that she died. Manx simply gets an engine to his chest. Hooper the dog gets hammered to near death and then ran over.

This book isn't so much horror as gore porn. It was a drag to push through from about 61% of the book on. One of the only fat characters gets a "happy ending" only once he becomes thin and goes to finish something saying he was told to when this wasn't ever shown to the reader.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Animal death, and Child abuse

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Kidnapping, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Body shaming

Minor: Antisemitism, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Infidelity, and Self harm

mattotheratto's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Fatphobia

Minor: Infidelity