Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher

32 reviews

len_magoi'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

this book made me feel heard

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Infidelity

anntharai's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Body horror, Gore, and Alcohol

Moderate: Drug use, Blood, and Animal death

Minor: Infidelity

jaedia's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

 That was great! Wow. Inspired by a short story called "The Willows" by Algernon Blackwood, somebody who inspired the likes of H.P. Lovecraft, T. Kingfisher weaves an absolutely bonechilling story of other worlds that appear in the walls of her strange but king Uncle Earl's Wonder Museum, full of bizarre taxidermy and other such artifacts.

I'm still stewing on it, really, but I can say that it takes a lot for horror to get under my skin these days, but The Hollow Places creeped me out. And I love every moment of it. Nothing felt out of place, or bland. Kingfisher writes with so much colour and knows the perfect moments to tone it down and... damn. The atmosphere.

Read this if you're a fan of horror, particularly the Weird. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Stalking

Moderate: Child death, Gore, Medical content, Mental illness, Alcohol, and Animal death

valpuri's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Child death

Minor: Infidelity

mandkips's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Gore

Moderate: Death, Blood, and Animal death

Minor: Drug use and Infidelity

superiour_medium's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense 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

4.5

An excellent look into multiversal cosmic horror. Kingfisher portrays the main characters Kara and Simon in a humanizing manner and writes dialog that actually reads like humans talking. The pure horror of the

Willows as a malignant force & the Eldritch things that walk amongst them hearing thoughts and having the ability to unravel people like Sturdivant

are when Kingfisher’s horror is at its best.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Body horror

Moderate: Animal death and Child death

Minor: Confinement

Most of the animal harm is related to the taxidermy in the museum, not actual animals. That being said the visual of

the Willowlight Otter impaled on Prince’s antlers

is still fairly visceral

vanessa_reads_a_lot's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

Gravity Falls meets Night at the Museum in the best way possible

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Gore

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

emmdashed's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

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

T Kingfisher includes a mix levity and horror in The Hollow Places. While I wouldn't necessarily say it's a full on horror-comedy, it is ultimately much more lighthearted than many books of the same ilk. It certainly toes, and occasionally steps over, the line of being too quippy, and sometimes the jokes broke the tension of scary situations a little bit too much for me. However, Cara and Simon's snark was generally more enjoyable than the dour misery present in many horror novels.

Cara's inner monologue could be a little bit too repetitive for my liking. I understand it is realistic (I certainly struggle with indecision and overthinking), but sometimes I just need the story to get to the point. Not a deal breaker by any means, but it could be a little frustrating.   

Also definitely enjoyed the literary references and fanfiction talk (tell me what her ships are I need to know). 

While her stories may not be the scariest or most tense, T Kingfisher paints some very solid and creepy imagery. The sequences of body horror, whether the characters witness them or just hear about them, are genuinely very unsettling. 

Overall an enjoyable, fun read and I do recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Body horror, and Blood

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Medical content

Animals aren't killed on the page in this but there is a LOT of taxidermy so if that freaks you out, avoid

vanadiumbean's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I think I prefer her romance novels. The writing style is fun, conversational and approachable, but stretches a little thin sometimes. Sometimes a humorous aside is just distracting from the stuff that's really interesting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Death

Moderate: Blood and Mental illness

Minor: Infidelity, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Animal death, Car accident, Child death, Confinement, and Murder

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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: Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Gore, and Blood

Minor: Death, Child death, and Animal death