Reviews tagging 'Child death'

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

386 reviews

dcnireads's review

dark funny hopeful mysterious sad 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: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, and Gore

Moderate: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Stalking, Bullying, and Vomit

Minor: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal death, and Drug use

bloomingrose92's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

While horror isn't really my thing, this book was incredibly well written. I particularly liked the descriptions that Sutherland gave. They provided a strong sense of rotting darkness throughout the book with novel phrases I'd never heard before.

And the twist of them not be chased by something that hides in the dark, but being the thing that hides in the dark was excellent. That they killed the three little Hollow girls, stole their bodies, then left them, unburied, as they took over the Hollow sisters' lives. I especially liked the line that Grey called out to the Hollow sisters for help, and they listened, because Grey was a little girl too. And the masked killer haunting them is actually the Hollow's father, coerced by their unholy magic to suicide, and refusing to pass on so that he can finally bring down his children's killers? Chef's kiss. I loved the detail of him finding his children's discarded bodies in the Halfway place, and making graves for them to finally rest. I have a particular fondness for protagonists putting everything they have into fighting a big bad, just to find out that they were the bad they were fighting. And the characterization of our protagonist in this book as a mousy bookworm who just wants to escape the weirdness of her past adds to the twist.

A well-written book, with unlikeable characters that only adds to the ultimate payoff.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Torture, Biphobia, Blood, Body horror, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Murder, Self harm, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Cursing, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual assault

accio_bookworms's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Beautiful imagery, I enjoyed the author’s writing. There were some slow parts and I did predict some parts, but it was well-structured and there were some surprises. If you like sisterly bonds, Stranger Things-esque vibes, a bit of gore and powerful, confident women then you’ll probably enjoy this book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Gore, and Child death

zonnestraal's review

adventurous dark mysterious 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? N/A

4.0

I don't read a lot off horror, but I do read fantasy, so this book was right up my alley. It wasn't to predictable, although some plottwists didn't seem that twisty to me. I borrowed this book from the library so it had the smell of old perfume and dusty pages. There was also a suspicious stain. It fitted really well with the contents of the book since a lot of smells and suspicious fluids are mentioned. I loved it. This book was a quick read, with beautifull descriptions. I didn't like the epilogue, it made it more open ended and I don't like open endings so I'll pretend it doesn't excist. On that not this is what I want to say:

Poor Tyler Yang.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence

Moderate: Gore, Vomit, Child death, Sexual harassment, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Bullying and Alcoholism

alysbookclub'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? Yes

4.75

I love Sutherland's unique brand of feminist witchy tales so so much. This book absolutely complimented my read of The Invocations earlier this month. The power of sisterly love, and girls who are traditionally seen as weak using their power to thrive - similar themes are seen in both novels and I loved both iterations. Quickly becoming one of my favorite authors!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Child death and Body horror

aseel_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

I liked this a lot more than I thought I would. This was super eerie and creepy and even with all the vibes, the plot actually managed to close itself properly, which is really impressive 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Gore, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Child abuse, Suicide, Stalking, Death, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, and Child death

thebiblioboo's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Kidnapping, Vomit, Suicide, Death, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual content, Stalking, Violence, and Child death

hann_smc's review

• 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

4.25

I genuinely loved this as a modern take on Celtic folklore. I'm typically not a horror person, but I think this was really well done. Some of the body horror stuff made me cringe but I'm easily made to cringe, so that's a low bar.
I am absolutely a sucker for sibling love / loyalty. I'll eat that shit up every time and this book was no different. Seeing the lengths that these sisters would go to to protect each other, even while arguing / disagreeing and at times not knowing if the others would do the same for them? Chef's kiss.

I absolutely cannot believe how long it took me to realize Gabe was the masked man. There were so many clues leading up to the reveal and she still got me

That being said, there were a few things I didn't like, in terms of characterization. To be honest though I think most of them are personal preference more than like ACTUAL problems with the story.
1.

I think the kiss with Iris and Tyler was unnecessary. We already saw with the broken pinky that Iris had an unhealthy obsession with wanting to be exactly like Grey. I feel like the kiss felt more like a betrayal to her sister than an obsession with wanting to be like her. It just didn't hit me the way I think it was meant to.

2.

I think Iris should grow up and forgive Grey. I said what I said. I knowww that part of the growth was her realizing she didn't actually want to be just like Grey and that she can be strong without the violence. But idk, Grey would and did do everything for her sisters. And even with them abandoning her she would do it all over again, because it was the only way to save them. It feels different than a narcissist who requires you to be grateful and takes it out on you when you're not. She saved her sisters and will live her life alone if that's the consequence.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Child death, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault

Minor: Body horror

of_fantasy_and_fibre's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad slow-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? No

3.75

An interesting take on the folklore surrounding missing children. Will add full review soon 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Violence, Bullying, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, and Vomit

Minor: Torture

eldane's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

5.0

 I’m in shock. This was so beautiful, so decadent, so harrowing. It’s been a while since I’ve been impressed with a YA book. This does a fantastic job of building tension and solving mysteries until you’re dying (bad pun) to learn what’s going on. I also love how complicated the characters are, in that Grey is obviously not a good person, but she is an eldest sister trying to protect her little sisters. You can’t necessarily blame her for wanting to protect her family, but the fact that she killed innocent girls and stole their identities? Yucky. Bad. And she gets off with no consequences other than losing her family and boyfriend? Actually, maybe those are valid consequences for someone like her. Ugh. So juicy. And the symbolism was immaculate. The skin motif? I’m sobbing, crying, throwing up. And the fact that Iris’s love for Grey is all twisted and corrupted? And the Halfway and the in-betweenness? “A perpetual state of decay”? I’m not okay. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Body horror

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Suicide, and Sexual assault

Minor: Sexual harassment