Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Sign Here by Claudia Lux

24 reviews

thatswhatshanread's review

challenging mysterious medium-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? Yes

3.0

It took me SEVEN MONTHS to finish this novel. There are many reasons why:

1. From BOTM’s description and the book’s general marketing, I fully expected this to be a horror/thriller. It was not. It was more just a family drama with a supernatural sort-of twist with half of the book’s POV set in literal Hell.
2. Every time I picked this book up to read it over the last several months, I was bored. The first half of the book seems like it’s going NOWHERE and nothing stuck. The storyline that follows Peyote in Hell seems completely irrelevant to the storyline in present day that follows The Harrison family.
3. But then, it finally picks up. Once I finally pushed myself to get more into it (after almost DNFing many times), something shifted. The stakes changed. Suddenly the Harrison family story is dysfunctional and mysterious and gripping. The Peyote storyline shows potential of intersecting with the other, some interesting twists come about.
4. Still, it’s confusing. I still have no idea how they will connect, just that now Peyote is actually referencing the Harrison family members and their dilemmas. 
5. Peyote and Cal’s plot becomes even more confusing and drawn out. But I’m very intrigued with the POVs from the Harrisons’ side. 
6. I finish the last 250 pages within a couple days. The pacing finally hit a sweet spot for me. The imminent ending seemed promising; everything would finally make sense.
7. Except… it wasn’t? And it didn’t? 

This really felt like two different books in one. In the end, I was still confused, and disappointed in all of that buildup to… what, exactly? I would have rather read about only The Harrisons. But I guess it was entertaining, nonetheless. Something different. Just maybe not the different I wanted it to be. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Genocide, Pedophilia, Sexism, Stalking, and Abortion

elizcait's review

dark funny 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Infidelity

Moderate: Self harm

Minor: Cancer and Injury/Injury detail

ktdakotareads's review

dark funny 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

aformeracceleratedreader's review

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.25

Super interesting concept but the writing could get confusing/convoluted. 
I liked following the inhabitants of hell in the form of office workers and learning how to make it through/climb the ladder through hell. The human side of the story was interesting at some parts but not my favorite perspective/parts of the book. I preferred following the Pey and Cal side much more than the Harrison's side of the story.
The ending was a bit of a letdown for me though. It wasn't a bad ending per se, but it just wasn't super fulfilling to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

maggieparedesauthor's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

loy127's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

jaylee_books's review

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Torture, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

blissofalife's review

dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

If you like putting together the puzzle pieces, this is the book for you! I thought the ending was a bit rushing and lacking the narration of the rest of the book, but a satisfying end nonetheless.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

symabee's review

adventurous dark funny reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

I thoroughly enjoyed Sign Here and was shocked to learn this was the authors debut novel. It is a dark comedy, a murder mystery, a coming of age tale, and a moving story about humanity and love, all rolled into one. I love the way this author writes and look forward to her future books. 

Things of note:
✅️ Short chapters
✅️ Lots of alternating POV 
⚠️ Check content warnings. While this book can be humorous, it also contains a lot of dark subject matter.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Violence, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Cancer, Drug use, Gore, Kidnapping, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

wai's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

I figured I would like this book, but it still really surprised me. A lot of twists and turns that I thought I had figured out but turned out to be wrong about. It keeps you guessing until the end. With very intriguing world building around Hell and selling your soul, and dark humor, it's worth the read if this is your thing. Please mind the content warnings as it does contain many triggering concepts and descriptions.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Pedophilia and Pregnancy