Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher

26 reviews

spineofthesaurus's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Violence, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Drug use, Gore, Alcohol, Grief, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Torture

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Gaslighting, Animal death, Medical trauma, Infidelity, and Ableism

Minor: Incest and Cannibalism

elsebeok's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcohol

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

hunkydory's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Alcohol and 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

hannanni41's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death

owlphabetical's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Medical trauma, Child death, Medical content, and Blood

Minor: Alcohol and Animal cruelty

there is cruelty to animals but they're taxidermy brought to life and it's mostly off screen

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

keen's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Blood and Alcohol

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Infidelity