Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

Hare House by Sally Hinchcliffe

13 reviews

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, and Car accident

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Death, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and War

bookforthought's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

I read this book in full spooky season because the blurb made it sound perfect: gothic atmosphere, a remote estate, secrets, witchcraft... basically spooky gold. And yet, when I finished it, I found myself disappointed and left wanting, although I couldn't really articulate why. I gave myself some time to process (a little longer in truth than I'd planned to be honest), trying to get some clarity but several weeks on I'm still no further in this.

Starting off with the positives, the atmosphere is spot on. The author does a great job with the settings and captures the dark, cold weather particularly well. I could almost feel the cold seeping through the page (and my headphones for the parts I listened to on audiobook). The settings are vivid and the tension is palpable, which is the main reason I didn't abandon this halfway through, because for the rest I was fairly disappointed.

The characters were profoundly unlikeable, and not in a good, interesting way. The main character, a woman trying to leave her past behind as a mysterious event led to her losing her job in London, had all the cards to be an interesting, complex character but ended up being quite flat for me. The rest of the cast is entirely forgettable, and I actually mixed them up pretty frequently aside from the mansion owner, his sister and the MC's neighbour, who came across as very one-dimensional.

Quite a few mysterious happenings occur throughout, which may or may not amount to witchcraft, but I became increasingly frustrated as it felt as though the story wasn't really going anywhere. Eventually, I was just bored and the ending felt completely anticlimactic. Nothing is really explained, a lot of things just fall into the void, and what is implied to have happened would contrast with everything we've read up to that point, making the whole thing even more confusing.

Essentially, this didn't quite have enough plot for my taste, feeling to me more as directionless meandering, but also didn't go deep enough in exploring its characters to read like a character study. Such a shame, because the ideas were clearly there and the writing itself was actually good, but I was left very unsatisfied overall.

I received an advanced review copy of this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Mental illness, and Car accident

Moderate: Eating disorder

enyltiak's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Incredibly atmospheric, there's a quiet, tranquil beauty of the setting enmeshed throughout the novel. The what and how and why of everything that happens is deeply intriguing and keeps you turning the page, especially as the tension ramps up in the last third of the book, but it all dissolves into... nothing? There's a climactic bang that is followed up by a sense of serenity, followed by an ominous, discordant ending note. Ultimately, there are so many unanswered questions that it feels less mysterious than unsatisfying. The main character is horrible (I do love an unreliable/unlikeable narrator) and she almost herself doesn't seem to understand her motivations, which makes it all that much trickier. I really enjoyed what there was, but it seemed like the end was missing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Mental illness, Blood, and Car accident

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Eating disorder

aish_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Eating disorder

piareadss's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Car accident

Moderate: Eating disorder and Gun violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

five_rats_in_a_trenchcoat's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement and Death

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, Grief, Stalking, and Death of parent

carolined's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

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

2.0

The author had a good idea and didn't really take it anywhere. Beautifully written but dull and pointless. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Eating disorder, Suicide, and Classism

livlostinstereo's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I found this book in my local library and the premise piqued my interest. Hinchcliffe’s writing is beautiful. Honestly, this woman can turn a phrase with the best of them. Her descriptions of the Scottish countryside and her metaphoric style are all lovely. She creates tension like a pro. 
However, the reason I’m giving this a 3 star rating: the resolution of the supernatural/mysterious causes of all the strangeness going on is lacking. The characters aren’t particularly lovable(though I must admit, we all know a Janet), which isn’t an issue, but the resolution doesn’t quite answer any of the questions. I have my theories but I would have loved a more thorough answer to some of the questions presented.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Car accident

Moderate: Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Grief, Stalking, and Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

franksalot's review against another edition

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Eating disorder

madamelacy's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Self harm, and Grief

Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

The story isn’t resolved at the end so it’s up to the reader to decide what really happened.