Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Sign Here by Claudia Lux

19 reviews

blissofalife's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

If you like putting together the puzzle pieces, this is the book for you! I thought the ending was a bit rushing and lacking the narration of the rest of the book, but a satisfying end nonetheless.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Death, Torture, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, and Violence

Minor: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Body shaming, Child death, Chronic illness, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Cancer, Classism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Sexism, and Sexual assault

symabee's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I thoroughly enjoyed Sign Here and was shocked to learn this was the authors debut novel. It is a dark comedy, a murder mystery, a coming of age tale, and a moving story about humanity and love, all rolled into one. I love the way this author writes and look forward to her future books. 

Things of note:
✅️ Short chapters
✅️ Lots of alternating POV 
⚠️ Check content warnings. While this book can be humorous, it also contains a lot of dark subject matter.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Infidelity, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Eating disorder, Self harm, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Torture, Blood, Gun violence, and Murder

Minor: Gore, Kidnapping, Cancer, Pregnancy, Drug use, Abortion, and Fire/Fire injury

kalzoni's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Child death

Moderate: Bullying, Body horror, and Abandonment

Minor: Cancer and Abortion

gabedon's review against another edition

dark medium-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

I have complaints about this book but I kept reading and felt drawn to the actual plot. The writing style wasn't my favorite: the dialogue was unrealistic, there were too many exclamation points, it was trying too hard at times, and some of the characters felt 2-dimensional (KQ; Trey; Sean, at the beginning). It began as a 2-star but as I continued, it bumped up to 2.5, and then my final rating of 3. It was doing a lot at once but the main plot interested me, was easy to read a lot at once, and I wanted to see how it would end. I would try reading this author again. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Body horror, and Death

Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Drug use, Pregnancy, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, and Alcohol

lauramparis's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Alcohol, Child death, Death, Grief, Pregnancy, Infidelity, and Violence

Minor: Bullying, Body horror, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Blood, Eating disorder, Cancer, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Suicide

readwithjessj's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed getting to read this debut novel from Claudia Lux. You follow Peyote in hell and then you follow three family members on earth. I was much more interested in the sections set in hell and found myself feeling like I was reading two separate books. I felt like the ties between the two story lines were slightly weak and not very important. That being said I did find myself reading through this in almost one sitting and was very intrigued with where it was going. I don't think that everyone will find this book good, but it will be for some people. I look forward to more in the future from this author. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Torture, Self harm, and Murder

maregred's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Confinement, Eating disorder, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, and Violence

cassielaj's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book surprised me in a lot of good ways! I didn’t know what to expect, but what I got was a twisty, shocking tale full of cynicism and hope, darkness and heart. And best of all, this book really makes you think: about goodness, about love, about choices. 
I was impressed with all of the threads the plot kept up with. I guessed some things along the way, but a lot of it still ended up surprising me. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Grief, and Self harm

Moderate: Alcohol, Pedophilia, Drug use, and Infidelity

This book is about Hell, and in some ways it’s what you’d expect… do with that what you will

lklitup's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.0

Not at all my typical go-to book, but hey— it’s spooky season! I’m so glad I went outside my comfort zone; and given the premise of this book, I stayed there.

Claudia Lux does a superb job of building two worlds and the characters within. I had a nagging suspicion that SOMETHING was about to happen, but I couldn’t figure out who, or to whom, or what it would be. I felt somewhat rushed along at the end when both storylines were coming to a conclusion, and while I felt surprised (in a good way!) by the end, I realized after some thinking I had lingering questions about some plot holes.

Am I going to dive head first into this spooky suspenseful genre? Nope, I’m going right back to rom coms, thank you! But I will recommend this book, and I will keep an eye out for anything else this author writes. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Physical abuse, Body horror, Blood, Child abuse, and Death

Moderate: Grief and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Self harm