Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Tastes Like Candy by Ivy Tholen

16 reviews

haleybre's review

challenging 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Alcohol, Body horror, Vomit, Death, Drug use, and Violence

midnightrose_reads's review

adventurous mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Tastes Like Candy is a slasher horror book by Ivy Tholen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, Murder, Vomit, Blood, Drug use, Gore, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Toxic friendship, and Violence

mfrisk's review

adventurous 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? It's complicated

3.5

I really enjoyed this book for the most part - the characters felt relatable and like they knew each other in a meaningful way, the setting of the carnival was well described and came to life, and the kills described were over the top and used the setting well. Truly could see this being a great campy slasher movie. Would recommend this for a quick slasher read especially during the summer or early fall. 

Now I’m going to get into some spoiler aspects I didn’t like.

My main issues with this book were 1. The initial killer red herring  of the waitress who was so over the top ridiculous (how would no one have not noticed a waitress putting a knife to a kid’s throat in public? 2. The killer reveal was extremely disappointing to me. It felt very much like an after thought and the social media is bad and making kids evil and self-centered diatribe has at this point been pretty overdone in both sci-fi and horror. To me this reveal didn’t bring anything new to that concept. I actually thought James may end up being the killer or someone unknown to us. Someone who could have been a bit more shocking. Blythe being the killer was a little bit surprising but not in a good way as it felt like once we knew that the same points continued to be repeated.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, Torture, Suicide, Body horror, and Blood

niamhrowanch's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.0

WOAAAAAHA

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Death, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Confinement, Physical abuse, Self harm, Murder, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Body horror, Child death, Gore, and Stalking

jackieyvette's review

dark funny fast-paced

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

3.25

I think this is a fine YA Horror. The story is really quick and the characters are all well thought out and it really did feel like a real group of friends in high school. The gore was good, and I had an okay time reading it. 
The reason behind the lower score is that I can tell I'm going to forget about this book. It's not a standout in a good or bad way, so I mean, that's better than being so bad I have to remember it. 

Sucks it had to be Blythe though, I really liked her.

Crying score: nope

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Murder, Gore, Blood, and Child death

amweber's review

dark tense fast-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? Yes

3.5

Overall, I enjoyed this slasher for a quick, fun (but gory) read. The characters of

Violet, Blythe, and James

were the most fleshed-out, but I found myself forgetting details about the others and caring less than I wanted to

when they were violently murdered.

I also predicted the killer very early on in the book. I am notoriously terrible at predicting twists and reveals, so this was kind of a red flag to me. If I can predict it, anyone can. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Blood, Gore, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Drug use

Moderate: Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Body shaming, Mental illness, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, and Stalking

kyra_joy's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This was a fun book, felt like watching a typical horror teen slasher. The characters were a bit too one dimensional but overall it was a fun read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Body horror

corporealmystic's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

The characters in this book aren't particularly flushed out to the point that you get attached to them. However you do get an overall sense of who they are at their young age and what us important to them at the time

The atmosphere of this book is southern small town. It seems like everyone knows everyone but you don't really get to see it expanded upon. Once the actual action of the book begins the atmosphere changes to what should feel scary but has more of a 'i should be scared but I'm not' vibe.

The writing in the book is decent, not overly simplistic but at an average level for most readers. 

The plot is well flushed out. Group of friends attacked by a deranged murderer in a theme park on the out skirts of town. There is a twist but if you are aware throughout you will be able to figure it out early on.

Overall I greatly enjoyed the book. It was fast paced, a quick easy fun read. There is some gruesome discriptions so please check trigger warnings prior to reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, and Death

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Vomit, Drug use, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Toxic friendship

horrorhayleigh's review

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Gore, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, Drug use, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, and Torture

misscarlaxox's review

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Gore, Torture, Body horror, Death, Toxic friendship, Blood, Stalking, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder