Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke

22 reviews

cassie7e's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

"Sometimes you miss someone so badly you want to believe you've found them" A sneaky line that nails the theme of the whole story.

Starts off with a literary tone that could be any other novel spanning multiple timeframes, getting creepier and darker as you go, ramping up the horror at the end. The sci fi aspects wouldn't hold up in a pure sci fi novel I think, but since this one stands on folklore, I didn't give it too much scrutiny for being flimsy on the science. 

This book satisfied my hankering for a dark mysterious story blending Scottish settings, and folktale with reality, and was crafted well to reveal bits and pieces throughout. My early hunch about what was happening with the wildlings was correct, but it took time to know that, and was still enjoyable to watch as the characters figured it out and dealt with the consequences. I wish the witchy parts had been more Scottish than Icelandic/Nordic, just for personal reasons and not any fault of the story in using them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Terminal illness, Sexual assault, Violence, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Blood, and Body horror

Minor: Miscarriage and Death of parent

caitlin_123a's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Confinement, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Torture, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, and Gore

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Grief, Murder, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, and Cancer

Minor: Animal death and Animal cruelty

pkc's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? No

4.0

This book had a touch of everything and I loved it. It was a rip-roaring plot, fabulous character development and a really great mystery that seemed to be one thing but masqueraded as something else. Just brilliant. I had a rare time reading this book and I’d like to look at more that the author has released!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Animal death, Murder, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Body horror, Grief, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Torture

cldurand's review

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Child death, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Death, and Murder

katerina_l's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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: Violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Body horror, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Child death, Infertility, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, and Child abuse

spookyaz's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Body horror, Drug use, Cancer, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Torture

loudes's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Rape and Body horror

Minor: Miscarriage

My perfect October / November read. For someone who doesn't like horror or being scared, the creepy vibes were spot on. At the same time, the folkloric focus of the book felt intimate and cozy. I didn't expect this book to make me sob the way it did, but I think having Taylor Swift's Folklore: Long Pond Studio Sessions only heightened all my feelings. Definitely helped me get out of a small reading slump !

what I didn't understand was why Clover was "evil" when she's found. what are her motivations for wanting to flood the house and kill her stuffed animal ? "just" because of her trauma ? but since she time travelled, her trauma comes from walking alone in the woods I guess ?

zoeblair17's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Body horror, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Cancer, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Vomit, Child death, Death, and Murder

allietriestoread's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Abandonment and Murder

Moderate: Death, Rape, Death of parent, Body horror, and Bullying

foxwish's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I struggled to enjoy this book at the beginning because there were some plot points that didn't make any sense, but the back half of the book was better and the very emotional ending wrapped things up well enough. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Grief, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Child death, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Blood, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Cancer, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Physical abuse, and Miscarriage

Minor: Self harm