Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

71 reviews

cturn's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Characters - 8
Atmosphere - 7
Writing - 7
Plot - 7
Intrigue - 5
Logic - 6
Enjoyment - 7
CAWPILE score - 6.7

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Suicide, Alcohol, Addiction, Drug use, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Sexual assault

feyreofthestars's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, and Gore

Moderate: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Stalking, Bullying, and Vomit

Minor: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal death, and Drug use

bloomingrose92's review against another edition

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

ka_ke's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Blood, Cursing, and Mental illness

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Medical content

sylvestra's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Mental illness, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Gun violence, and Body horror

bzliz's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.5

Big trigger warning for body horror.

Ten years ago, Iris and her two sisters went missing for a month. Now her eldest sister Grey is missing again and has left clues for Iris and Vivi to be able to find her- or her body- because something from their forgotten past is coming back to haunt them. 

The only reason I can’t give this five stars is because of how easily I was able to predict the two major twists. The imagery was so beautiful and disgusting that I could really feel Iris’ fascination, obsession & revulsion. My favorite character ending up being Cate. Although she is a deeply flawed, haunted woman, I came to understand her controlling tendencies and her big heart. I’m not a mother but I believe only a mother could climb a mountain of trauma and still find love on the other side. 

I spent several hours after I finished this book thinking about it and how I would rate and review it. It’s been a while since I needed to sit with something for a while to gather my thoughts, which is a point in its favor. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Vomit, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Medical content, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Kidnapping

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug use, Drug abuse, Alcohol, and Eating disorder

I’ve tagged eating disorder as a potential content warning. Although the behavior is caused by a different condition, the Hollow sisters (get it?) do engage in binge eating behaviors. Their continued description of being thin in defiance of how many calories they must consume daily could be triggering for someone struggling with their own disordered eating.

historyoftape's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Read this book in two connecting flights on my way to England, it had me gripped. The mood is very specific, it's like it's all happening behind a windowpane and yet you can't look away as the story unfolds. None of the characters feel flat, even the ones that dont immediately have clear motives or stories.

I liked that that the supicions built are all true, but that the truth is even more gory & complex than imagined.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

stressedoutreader's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child death, Death of parent, Stalking, Kidnapping, Body horror, Mental illness, Suicide, Vomit, and Self harm

necroplasm's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

GODDD THE DESCRIPTIONS IN THIS ARE SO GOOD. from practically square one the atmosphere is just so intoxicating, shit drew me in so strongly i read almost all of this in a single day which is something i can almost never pull off for books this long

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Blood, Mental illness, Vomit, Suicide, Body horror, Death, Grief, and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual assault, Bullying, and Stalking

Minor: Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Cursing

lensbooks14's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, Misogyny, Bullying, Gore, Blood, Murder, Vomit, Violence, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, and Sexual assault