Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison

23 reviews

livgrayson_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

drs645's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Murder, Death, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide attempt, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Body horror, Torture, Suicide, and Kidnapping

cait's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Kidnapping, Medical content, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Abandonment, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Torture

ladylovestead's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

3.0

This is a fun read if I don't think too much about it. I thought the butterfly garden was creepy the characters were interesting. There were some issues in logic that I struggled with. For example, the butterfly garden must be just a huge structure. It housed lots of girls each with their own room. Then there were rooms for like snacks and a natural area with a cliff and a waterfall. This garden was supposed to be nestled inside an even larger greenhouse? The geometry didn't make sense to me and I found things like this to be really distracting. If you can ignore some of those logic issues and read it for sheer entertainment, it's a dark and twisted fun ride. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, and Rape

Moderate: Kidnapping, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, and Mental illness

Minor: Addiction

jjenkins's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This is a very dark thriller told from an FBI investigator’s perspective and a victims perspective as they investigate a horrible tragedy involving the kidnapping, abuse, and murder of girls. The writing was stunning and the story unfolded in a very unique way

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Violence, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual violence

heartobarto's review

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

The POVs are really captivating, the story is great, the characters are great

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, and Rape

thehireader's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense

5.0

I really wasn’t sure going in about this book—I wasn’t sure if I would be able to handle how disturbing it was, especially after having had such a strong reaction to PRETTY GIRLS—but wow, it ended up being fantastic. Inara was an amazing character and I loved how the whole time, you were wondering just how reliable she was. 

 

I don’t always enjoy when books move between the past and the present but it was done so well in THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN. The way the story moved between the interview in the present and Inara’s account of the story in the past was seamless and kept me on the edge of my seat. And I appreciated how the author didn’t just spend the whole story building only to leave all the action at the end. Unlike so many thrillers I’ve read lately, the pacing was fantastic and the ending didn’t feel rushed and actually gave a sense of closure. 

 

This book is not for everyone and there are lots of trigger warnings. I appreciated, however, that the author never made it feel exploitative, and that the story was ultimately more about the characters themselves than the truly awful things that were done to them (or, in the case of the perpetrators, the awful things they did). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Death

Moderate: Abortion, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide attempt

mariam_reads's review

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The ending felt very rushed and a lot of things didn’t add up, really liked the idea of the book and the way it was written, and how it switched from the police interview to the main character’s point of view. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault

aledamian's review

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

 Maya fue secuestrada por “El Jardinero”, un hombre obsesionado con preservar la belleza, pero ella no es la primera ni la única que se encuentra en aislada de su libertad en el Jardín donde vivió algunos años. Tendrá que contarles a los agentes del FBI los horrores a los que se enfrentó mientras estaba cautiva, así como el extraño tatuaje que se encuentra en su espalda, pero más perturbador es lo que les pasa cuando llegas a cumplir la mayoría de edad en ese lugar. 

Quiero empezar diciendo que este libro contiene muchas escenas de abuso sexual, manipulación y secuestro, así que no es un libro para todos. Las cosas por las que paso Maya son muy perturbadoras y son cosas que pasan todos los días, unos de una manera y otros de otra. Cuando comencé a leer este libro yo esperaba encontrar algo parecido a lo que vemos en las series de televisión y de cierta forma es lo que esperaba, pero va mucho más allá. La autora sin ser tan grafica en sus escenas lograba provocarme muchos escalofríos y me causaba horror lo que nos estaba contando. Lo que me provocaba más horror es saber que uno de sus hijos hacia lo mismo que él, pero más extremista y el otro era incapaz de hacer algo y el mismo Jardinero se veía así mismo como un dios y normalizaba todo lo que hacía porque el simple hecho que las amaba. Sin duda no es un libro que recomiende leer en las noches, pero entre más leía para mí era más difícil soltar el libro hasta que lo termine. Las escenas y los personajes están muy bien construidos y me encanto que viésemos diferentes personas, aunque pienso que el Jardinero debería de tener una persona más específica a quienes secuestrar, pero a ciencia cierta no sé porque no estudio ni psicología ni criminalística. 

Creo que fue bueno que no leyera este libro cuando era más joven porque me hubiera dejado muy perturbada, aun soy joven y me siento perturbada por lo que leí, creo que si planeta no me hubiese mandado el libro no lo hubiera leído. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Rape

lmagie's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

2.25

Aweful things happen to a single character that constantly reminds us how strong and indiferent she is to all trauma. 
Uses first person POV.
Could use some more character development and maybe the timeline (present-past-present-past-further past-present) wasn't the best choice

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Body horror