Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Sign Here by Claudia Lux

54 reviews

annorabrady'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? It's complicated

3.75

The premise was interesting and the writing compelling, but I still struggled through a good portion of the book. Especially in terms of Silas' interactions with Ruth, who was only a 10th grader. 

Also, climax of the story was really good but the epilogue ruins it, in my opinion.

The whole time traveling aspect, especially one so far before the main storyline, means none of what happened in the story matters. Because even if somehow all the events happened as they happened before the story began, the events of the climax couldn't happen because there wouldn't be a reason for him to intervene.

If you struggle with eating disorders, self harm, and suicide, procede with caution with this book. 

Another note on the ending,

I thought that Mickey was the one in the family that Pey needed to get a "complete set" since he rushed to save her as she became "disconnected." So I was very much confused when Mickey still died and then the deal was made with Silas.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Child death, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Gun violence, and Suicide

crweber25's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

3.5

I loved the concept of hell, and peyote, and the systems in place. I didn't care for the Harrison's story, except in the way that it tied into peyotes plot line. I also think I misunderstood the summary and thought this would be funnier in overall tone. There were a lot of witty jokes that I enjoyed, but I didn't realize that this wasnt a comedy overall. 
Overall this was written well, and it kept me reading even when I discovered it wasn't quite what I had anticipated.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Violence, Death, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Alcoholism, and Torture

Moderate: Suicide, Child death, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Body shaming

soshereads_'s review against another edition

dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Violence, Self harm, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide, Self harm, Grief, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Pedophilia, Murder, Gun violence, Blood, Bullying, and Cancer

Minor: Abortion, Torture, and Child death

cheezh8er's review against another edition

dark emotional funny medium-paced

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

3.5

This was a fun and engaging version of hell! The prose was surprisingly poignant, although a bit flowery at times. My one main issue is that the two story lines felt very disconnected through most of the book, almost being two completely different stories. There were certainly times I really couldn't bring myself to care about the high school drama and wanted to get back to exploring the underworld. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Body shaming, Bullying, Self harm, Suicide, Child abuse, Alcohol, Cursing, Eating disorder, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Torture, Sexism, Grief, Death, and Drug abuse

Minor: Car accident, Child death, Death of parent, and Gun violence

monstersinspace's review against another edition

dark funny sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

I really enjoyed the subtext of the book and I found the character's flawrd but likeable. I will admit I was confused a lot about what was going on and who was talking in since it jumped time and place so often. I think it falls into the same issue a lot of time travel adjacent stories do where if you think about them long enough they are nothing but paradox so its best to take the story at face value. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Alcohol, Self harm, and Death

Moderate: Gaslighting, Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Infidelity

buttercup_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book, the characters and the story were engaging and I just wanted to know more. There are a few moments which pulled me out of the story, but it doesn’t stop this book being a great read. It might have left me with a few more questions than answers, but in an intriguing way that makes me wish for a sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Torture, Body horror, Murder, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Suicide and Violence

Minor: Drug use and Eating disorder

thatswhatshanread's review against another edition

challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

It took me SEVEN MONTHS to finish this novel. There are many reasons why:

1. From BOTM’s description and the book’s general marketing, I fully expected this to be a horror/thriller. It was not. It was more just a family drama with a supernatural sort-of twist with half of the book’s POV set in literal Hell.
2. Every time I picked this book up to read it over the last several months, I was bored. The first half of the book seems like it’s going NOWHERE and nothing stuck. The storyline that follows Peyote in Hell seems completely irrelevant to the storyline in present day that follows The Harrison family.
3. But then, it finally picks up. Once I finally pushed myself to get more into it (after almost DNFing many times), something shifted. The stakes changed. Suddenly the Harrison family story is dysfunctional and mysterious and gripping. The Peyote storyline shows potential of intersecting with the other, some interesting twists come about.
4. Still, it’s confusing. I still have no idea how they will connect, just that now Peyote is actually referencing the Harrison family members and their dilemmas. 
5. Peyote and Cal’s plot becomes even more confusing and drawn out. But I’m very intrigued with the POVs from the Harrisons’ side. 
6. I finish the last 250 pages within a couple days. The pacing finally hit a sweet spot for me. The imminent ending seemed promising; everything would finally make sense.
7. Except… it wasn’t? And it didn’t? 

This really felt like two different books in one. In the end, I was still confused, and disappointed in all of that buildup to… what, exactly? I would have rather read about only The Harrisons. But I guess it was entertaining, nonetheless. Something different. Just maybe not the different I wanted it to be. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Blood, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Violence, Cursing, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Suicide, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Confinement, Body shaming, Genocide, Adult/minor relationship, Abortion, Cancer, Child death, Pedophilia, Sexism, and Stalking

goldsbuc's review against another edition

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? Yes

3.5

Interesting concept, slightly predictable at first, a little bit edgelord at times tbh but overall an interesting read. Ending was abrupt and I’m confused about how some of the plot lines tie together. It needed another couple chapters to better explain. 

imo the dark natured creeping on Silas’ part was extremely unnecessary and added nothing to the plot. Shame on the author for introducing that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Murder, Alcohol, Blood, Self harm, Child death, Death, Grief, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Drug use

Minor: Cancer and Eating disorder

mshaner2133's review against another edition

1.0

The plot had good intentions but I feel like the writing style did not execute it the way I wanted. Others have loved the style of the book, but it was just not the one for me. There is like two plot lines in it, and if done differently, it could have been a favorite of mine

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Alcoholism

kingsteph's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Self harm, Child death, and Pedophilia

Minor: Rape, War, Violence, and Torture