Reviews tagging 'Torture'

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

19 reviews

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

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

deliak03's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was so good!  A brief synopsis: three sisters go missing when they’re kids and reappear after a month with no memory of what happened.  Then ten years later, the oldest sister, Grey, goes missing and Iris and Vivi have to find her and figure out what happened to them during the month they were missing.  
It was so hard to put down this book especially when I got to the last 8 or so chapters.  The dark fantasy aspect of it was so intriguing and unlike anything else I’ve ever read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Body horror

Moderate: Murder, Suicide, and Vomit

Minor: Torture and Fire/Fire injury

There is a brief mention of suicide and murder throughout the book, and at times murder is described in detail. There is also body horror, so don’t read this if that is something that deeply disturbs you!

aecoralie's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

5.0

edit: i'm bumping it to five stars, i can't stop thinking about this book

this book was awesome, i loved the magical realism and the aesthetic of it, but it was way too disturbing for me to rate it five stars. be mindful of the trigger warnings, there were some scenes that left me reeling. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Rape, Stalking, Suicide, Torture, Death, Murder, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Violence, Mental illness, Blood, Vomit, and Child death

angelica98's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I didn't like the end. It felt like an odd colour patch sewn on a new dress. I could have understood (not forgiven) her choice if she planned to publish a second book, but in my opinion the book worth plummeted because of it.

Tyler's death was the most emotional moment of the book, his choice of not being seen by Grey something complex that left a bad aftertaste in my mouth (I'm all for good endings) but understandable and even admirable. Not nice, but a good choice. The epilogue felt like the publisher compelled the author to write a "happy ending" for Tyler too, or something like that. Why would Iris chose to go back to him after he refused the first time? Why would he refuse to go back with the love of his life but would do so with Iris? I could have understood so if framed as giving him a second chance, but it felt like Iris lost all her character development in a moment

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Grief, Child death, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Violence, and Bullying

Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicide, Gun violence, Medical content, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, and Vomit

danaleelin's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Vomit, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Death, Cursing, Animal death, Gore, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Child death, Violence, Alcohol, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Blood

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Torture, Suicide, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

aliciasharp123's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.0

I thought it would be more black magic/fairy type vibe but it ended up being quite gory and very dark. Pushed me out of my comfort zone for sure, but it was good enough I was compelled to keep reading till the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Gore, Blood, Murder, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Death, and Vomit

stewartj0421's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

3.0

This book was SLOW. I definitely struggled to get through this at times, yet the story itself always made me pick it back up. I knew the ending would be worth it, and it was. I must add that there were an abundance of editing errors that should not have made it into the final print of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Toxic relationship, Child death, Violence, Death, Vomit, and Suicide

Moderate: Sexual assault, Gore, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Torture, Stalking, Grief, Murder, Mental illness, Cursing, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use

allidone's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Grief, Gore, Sexual assault, Stalking, Child death, Death of parent, Abandonment, Blood, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Mental illness, Murder, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Suicide, and Torture

Minor: Emotional abuse, Animal death, and Fire/Fire injury

snowydaze's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Child death, Murder, Blood, Cursing, Violence, Torture, Death of parent, Drug use, and Grief

Minor: Alcohol