Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Man Made of Smoke by Alex North

31 reviews

krooster215's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious sad

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Torture

bitapaige's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious tense medium-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: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Torture

lorig_lpc's review against another edition

2.5

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Suicide, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Drug abuse, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail

paronomaniac's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Violence, Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Suicide, Kidnapping, Death of parent

Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Vomit, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury

mky12's review against another edition

3.5

dark sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death

macliffe's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious reflective 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

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Loved the first have of this book a lot. I loved the set up and the creepy depiction of the serial killer, how he seems otherworldly. And I even liked how in the end the message was that these killers aren’t supernatural at all, but still humans, just humans who do unthinkable crimes. The violence was pretty gruesome, but also I knew that going in. There was some restraint in a lot of things not depicted on page, but what was said was grisly enough.

I didn’t like the resolution of who the serial killer was. I thought it would have been really satisfying if it had been James, but as it was I wasn’t satisfied. I didn’t even remember that character even after he was revealed. That and some other things made it a 3.5 star

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Police brutality, Abandonment, Alcohol

Minor: Bullying, Suicide

srullo's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol

dishajetly_123's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol

libbyloveslattes's review against another edition

2.0

dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Ok, not great. I mean, it was a thriller and murder mystery, but I figured out the ending. There were at least a couple of places where readers are left hanging, and for a short book there was a significant amount of time given to the sound of a fist hitting a punching bag. If you like mysteries and thrillers, it’s definitely not the worst, but I’ve enjoyed others more. Also, the way the psychiatrist tried to get into the head of the killer is a littler weird and creepy. Not my favorite. I think this would be a great movie, but only an ok book.

It was mentioned as a trigger warning so I didn’t take away any stars for this, but it is about a serial killer that goes after young boys and I just was not able to cope as well as I thought I was. Super sad and icky.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Murder

rooislost's review against another edition

2.75

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail