Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Pine by Francine Toon

10 reviews

elysianbud's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I tried reading this ages ago and DNF'd it. Picked it up again and gave it another chance and actually really enjoyed myself. Creepy and mysterious. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Grief, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Bullying, Blood, Death, Addiction, Alcohol, and Animal death

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, Violence, Alcohol, Animal death, and Bullying

Moderate: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Murder, Kidnapping, Vomit, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual content

thenovelbookshelf's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

4.0

An eerie thrilling mystery set in a small village n the Scottish Highlands.
  
On a Halloween night Lauren and her father, Niall,  pick up a woman stumbling on the road. In the morning, she's gone. 
  
Lauren feels a familiarness to the woman, who supernaturally turns up at odd times. Niall drinks to forget. Forget that his wife is gone. To forget the whispers of the village about him.
  
When a local woman goes missing in familiar circumstances, Lauren looks for answers, to find her friend, and her mother.
  
I found this a gripping, eerie, thriller that feels like a fog starts to fall and becomes heavier with each chapter until the very end. The build up to the ending was long, and the ending abrupt, but I found myself holding my breath and thinking I was in that village.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Death, Blood, Death of parent, and Bullying

_egg_wash's review against another edition

mysterious sad slow-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, Death, and Addiction

Minor: Confinement, Blood, Drug use, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Vomit, and Cursing

beca_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

This book is eerie and gothic, honestly I've not many other books that feel this atmospheric. I would say that this book is not marketed properly, as I was sold it as a thriller but I would say it is Gothic Horror. Not an awful lot happens in this book, but the description of Scotland  and the forest alone is brilliant. Mental health, yet not directly mentioned is dealt with within the book, as well as poverty. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Mental illness

Moderate: Lesbophobia

booksof_fern's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Death, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Animal death

nakutski's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

A well spooky story with a tender heart that slowly develops into a thriller. A 4/5 because the start was a bit slow and the story needed some time to get into the swing of things. Excellent audiobook narrator.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Physical abuse, Murder, Kidnapping, Grief, Gore, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, Bullying, Blood, Animal death, and Alcoholism

sheryl_macca's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Pine is a modern ghost story which begins on Halloween night and is set in a rural, atmospheric village in Scotland.

I'm not sure that it is actually YA but since the protagonist is an 11 year old girl it reads that way.

The plot is suspenseful and tense. It slowly builds to the resolution of the mystery which we know is coming. The end wasn't shocking, it wasn't as emotional as expected and it was wrapped up a little too quickly but I did enjoy this book.

Something about Lauren and her father Niall really resonated with me. I felt protective of Lauren, I empathised with her. Niall is essentially a good man but he is lost and lonely and his daughter Lauren isn't the priority she should be. I couldn't dislike Niall for it though. The writing of his character was really wonderful.

Atmospheric is definitely the word for Pine. This book is a mood. It's not groundbreaking but read at the right time it's perfect. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Death of parent, Grief, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, and Murder

hallsifer's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

 Absolutely fantastic atmosphere and I love the characters a lot. I don't think I quite understand all the supernatural (?) Parts but it's still a VERY good read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Animal death

Moderate: Blood and Death of parent

whatsjessreading's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism and Bullying

Minor: Animal death, Blood, and Death