Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

361 reviews

alysbookclub's review against another edition

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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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aseel_reads's review against another edition

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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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thebiblioboo's review

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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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hann_smc's review

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  • 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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eldane's review against another edition

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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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lucdiamant's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.75


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lovehavi's review

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3.0

this was a really fun read, i enjoyed the second half a lot better. iris' pov was compelling and i think what stood out was how she's arranged past and present in order, which kept the mystery alive. appreciate that this actually attempted to get gore right and true, and had a cool supernatural world to introduce that usually you don't get so convincingly. sometimes the descriptions of characters was a bit overboard and corny as shit lol 'she smelled like the south of france and sex' what does that even MEAN. the characters were interesting as a concept but at times superficially trope-y. my problem was largely the pacing, weird incest-y vibes from the sisters (?????), and that at times characters lacked depth (really? comedy relief asian guy
who dies
? in this day and age?) but also that it's weirdly dismissive of consent to the point where it's jarring to watch blatant non-consensual kisses occur and have virtually no retrospection beyond 'whoopsie'. if this was the point the author was trying to make, i don't disagree but i think it fell short / could have used more attention.

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bzliz's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.5

Big trigger warning for body horror.

Ten years ago, Iris and her two sisters went missing for a month. Now her eldest sister Grey is missing again and has left clues for Iris and Vivi to be able to find her- or her body- because something from their forgotten past is coming back to haunt them. 

The only reason I can’t give this five stars is because of how easily I was able to predict the two major twists. The imagery was so beautiful and disgusting that I could really feel Iris’ fascination, obsession & revulsion. My favorite character ending up being Cate. Although she is a deeply flawed, haunted woman, I came to understand her controlling tendencies and her big heart. I’m not a mother but I believe only a mother could climb a mountain of trauma and still find love on the other side. 

I spent several hours after I finished this book thinking about it and how I would rate and review it. It’s been a while since I needed to sit with something for a while to gather my thoughts, which is a point in its favor. 

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earofthedog's review

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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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laurenmiller100's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

4.0

  • Characters: 7
  • Atmosphere/Setting: 9
  • Writing Style: 7
  • Plot: 6
  • Intrigue: 7
  • Logic/Relationships: 6
  • Enjoyment: 6

This books is pretty gruesome. As the oldest of three sisters, I really enjoyed the relationships between each of the sisters. The early parts of the book are beautiful and scary, but as with many horror stories, it goes off the rails a bit as it explains what’s going on. The end of the book chooses to tell instead of show and I think it would’ve been better if they’d discovered the truth instead of had it explained.

It also bothered me that in the end, we didn’t find out who the sisters really are or why they were stuck in the first place.

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