Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Fervor by Alma Katsu

8 reviews

kt2e56's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This started out great but sort of petered out as it went on. I think once the characters’ stories begin to intersect is where the trouble begins. Things start to become a bit too convenient and eventually lead to a really rushed ending that feels a bit like a deus ex machina. I also feel like as the story goes on, the Japanese folklore (aka the most interesting bits) sort of becomes less and less important and the book goes from being a creepy historical horror novel to a quasi-political thriller which just wasn’t what I was in the mood for. Don’t get me wrong, this was still entertaining but it just wasn’t as spooky as The Hunger so I feel a bit disappointed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Miscarriage, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Antisemitism, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

wednesdayzombie's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Murder, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

fernbomb's review

dark informative fast-paced

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

3.0

While I wanted to love this book, there were just too many mediocre elements of it’s execution that ultimately made this book very mid. The concept had so much potential: a historical horror where the roots of said horror is racism. It was actually a worthwhile read, as I learned a lot about that period of history, and the author does have a very important perspective to share. Unfortunately the characters were written with little depth, with unbelievable character arc’s. The atmosphere of the environment was also lacking, giving this book the feeling that it was written at the 8th grade level. The biggest flaw in this book for me is the authors seemingly neoliberal conclusion to the embedded violence of the american system of white supremacy,

that the government is going to correct itself. Racism is literally a feature of the system, and it seems the author thinks racism is simply a flaw, that laughably, the FBI can solve lmao.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

Moderate: Body horror and Child death

Minor: Sexual assault

ten_telegrams's review

dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, and War

Moderate: Hate crime, Infertility, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Toxic relationship

ripxreads's review

dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

Moderate: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, and Death of parent

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and War

dirtwitch's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Confinement, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Antisemitism, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Miscarriage

ohhthehorrors's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and War

beersbooksandbooos's review

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• 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

5.0

 Before I write my review I want to thank Putnam books for giving me a finished copy of The Fervor.

It was the cover that first drew me in, then I read the synopsis, and I knew right then I would love the book. Last year I read The Hunger and that is when I fell in love with Alma Katus. She is also the one who got me to read more horrors. Her writing is beautiful, the story telling makes it hard to put down. 

With The Fervor you could tell it as a little more personal than her other books and that is what I really liked about it. Growing up I didn’t learn about the internment camps in school, it wasn’t until I graduated and started to really get into history that I learned about them. It felt like it was something America wanted to forget. There is a quote that really made me stop and think, am I doing this?

  “Maybe he was afraid of the hateful nature of his fellow whites-well he could afford to pretend it didn’t exist because he was white, too.”

The theme of this book still can be seen today with all the hate going on in America with all the anti-Asian racism.

Alma Katsu has a wonderful way of drawing you in and making you feel like you are watching the story unfold. I started not liking spiders but now I can’t even look at them the same. I would definitely check the CW/TW before you read this book. There is a scene in the book that hit me a little harder than I thought because I am going through it right now. I really do highly recommend this book to anyone who loves horror and history, it was a great blend of both. My heartbroke and healed with the characters, I got attached to them all. I will be reading a lot more from Alma Katsu. 

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War