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dreamerfreak's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Grief, Murder, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, and Torture
ggcd1981's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Soa ótimo, mas a execução deixou um pouco a desejar, especialmente no encerramento da situação na floresta. Porém não posso negar que a história foi intrigante e atribuo muito dessa intriga a atmosfera da obra. A lógica, contudo, foi um pouco sofrida especialmente no já citado encerramento da linha de enredo na vila em Aokigahara.
Graphic: Bullying, Torture, Death, Death of parent, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Suicide
Moderate: Genocide, Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Stalking
the_books_music_life's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This duology had everything I've ever wanted; a horror ghost story with amazing characters who I felt so deeply for, fast paced plot, and the emotional range to make even me cry.
The Suffering picks up two years after the events of The Girl from the Well, and we follow Tark as he navigates high school and his dealings with ghosts and exorcizing them. Along with Tark is his ever present spirit companion, Okiku: a young woman who’s life ended as a victim and spends her afterlife as an avenger.
The book is in Tark’s point of view and I’m a little sad about that, I really loved Okiku’s view of things from the first book, but it is interesting to see how Tarak sees and experiences things.
So right off the bat the book is scary. It starts with (of all things) a paranormal game. A paranormal game I have in fact heard of from scary paranormal content I watch on Youtube.
Okiku and Tark’s friendship is so sweet and unique, they have grown protective of each other these last two years; Okiku more so than Tark as we see with school bullies who try to mess with Tark. The fact that Tark helps Okiku with her avenging , while kind of sad is also understandable. To me at least.
I have differing feelings about Aokigahara. On one hand it’s a terribly sad place with a equally sad history, and on the other I find myself fascinated with the lore and legends and history of the forest. The fact that this book partly takes place in Aokigahara and explore it’s lore is something that really drew me to this duology.
Moderate: Rape, Death, Child death, Suicide, and Murder
There is ritual sacrifice in this book along with Paranormal Games, Victim blaming, and Aokigahara Japan’s suicide forest.amytalksbooks's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, Grief, Child death, Death, and Body horror
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
This resolves a major thing left hanging from the previous book. The main storyline starts here and wasn't present previously, and it is resolved by the end. Currently it's book two in a duology (I see no indications of a third in the future), and it feels very complete. It provides emotional resolution to some things left open from the first book, and it makes clear what kind of live the characters will have after the pages end. It feels finished and I'm very content with how things wrapped up. The main character changed and is very distinct from the first narrator. Since the emotional core of this book is the way Tark and Okiku's relationship changes and settles after the events of the first book, if you read this without knowing why they got here then the ending of this book definitely won't be as satisfying. I think most of the main plot would make sense, but very basic questions like "why does this guy want to drop everything to go help these people right now" were set up by THE GIRL FROM THE WELL.
I love Tark as a narrator, and it's so good to see him gaining a sense of agency after the events of the first book. He and Okiku have a great rapport and I'm just so happy with how this handled their friendship. If you liked the first book you'll almost definitely like this one (though since Okiku isn't narrating there's much less counting of objects). If you enjoy horror stories about compassion, hauntings, and setting right the wrongs of the past, read this duology.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Grief, Murder, and Suicide
Minor: Ableism, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual assault
CW for ableist language (brief), grief, bullying, racism, racial slurs, confinement, blood, gore, body horror (graphic), violence (graphic), child abuse (not depicted), sexual assault (not depicted), suicide, murder, child death, major character death, death.nuka_lola's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Murder and Body horror
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence