Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley

6 reviews

snazzy10101's review

dark emotional tense fast-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

5.0

jesus christ

i have things to say about this book but i will need to think on it first 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Violence, Animal cruelty, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Death of parent and Dementia

_rowan_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Animal death, Grief, Death, Violence, Blood, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, and Animal cruelty

mrmokek's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

First horror novel I've read and I feel like it was a good introduction
Definitely got absorbed in it - it was very easy to read and didn't take long
Theme-wise it wasn't anything super special but that might be because I'm used to coming at books from an analytical angle and that might not apply for this genre
Had some loose ends that I felt could have been tied up -

the storyline about Richard's father's madness and his mother's exclusion from the town were focused on enough that I thought they would play a much more important part in the story, or at least receive some explanation (felt like a failed Chekhov's gun)

Pacing and atmosphere was good, creepy and sufficiently tragic
Enjoyed the rural gothic and the aspects that hit a little too close

(child suffers due to parents' inability to admit defeat/their own mistakes)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Child death, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Torture, Alcohol, Cursing, Death of parent, and Sexual content

azhogg2223's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Gore, Animal cruelty, Death, and Child death

sarah_bookshelf's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I could not put this book down! It starts out atmospheric and pastoral and ends up chilling. The transition from beginning to end is seamless, you don't notice you're in the middle of a horror novel until the idea of putting the book down scares you and you HAVE to know how it ends. 

It's a quick read, but one that I know will definitely benefit from future re-reads. I love that the whole thing could be an allegorical tale about what grief does to us. I love the English folkloric elements. Read it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Child death

Moderate: Violence and Animal cruelty

Minor: Infertility and Child abuse

katie_biggs7's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Violence