Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Sign Here by Claudia Lux

33 reviews

micaelamariem's review

dark emotional mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

2.0

This book would’ve been better as a thriller without any of the paranormal/hell/demon stuff. It sounded cool but those were the parts that bored me. Reading about the family on earth was interesting, but overall could’ve been done better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

jennabeck13's review

dark funny slow-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? Yes

2.0

Sign Here by Claudia Lux

⭐️⭐️ (2/5)

Genre: Fantasy/Horror

About 400 pages

Peyote’s job is hell. But no, like literally hell. He works on the fifth floor of hell getting humans to sign here and sell their souls to get whatever they are “praying” for. Right now, Peyote is focused on getting a deal with someone from one particular family, The Harrisons. If he gets one more deal with a Harrison, he will have what is termed a “full set” which is an accomplishment in itself, but he has a different reason for wanting that set… Told from Peyote and several members of the Harrison family’s perspectives, we read about the summer that may make or break Peyote’s dreams.

This one started strong for me… I thought the concept was super fun and creative, and enjoyed the way Peyote narrated. However, as the book went on, I started to lose interest and found myself skimming at times. It was obvious the stories from all the narrators and the past & present were intended to connect, but it took too long for Lux to get there. The two stories ultimately felt forced together once they did connect as well. I started this right before Halloween hoping to end the spooky season strong, but unfortunately, that plan fell through 😕

Favorite Quote: “As far as I can tell from my observations, growing up seems to involve a lot of false starts, a lot of broken promises. The realization of the world as something neither for you nor against you, but rather uninterested in you entirely. No matter how special you are, how many gold stars you receive, the world itself is incapable of loving you.”

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Blood, and Abandonment

margaret721's review against another edition

dark reflective sad fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

lsmock's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

loved it! super interesting and complicated plot that was unique and creative but entertaining 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Abandonment

casber's review

dark medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Infidelity, Self harm, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug use, Suicide, Violence, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death and Abortion

annorabrady's review

dark mysterious 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

3.75

The premise was interesting and the writing compelling, but I still struggled through a good portion of the book. Especially in terms of Silas' interactions with Ruth, who was only a 10th grader. 

Also, climax of the story was really good but the epilogue ruins it, in my opinion.

The whole time traveling aspect, especially one so far before the main storyline, means none of what happened in the story matters. Because even if somehow all the events happened as they happened before the story began, the events of the climax couldn't happen because there wouldn't be a reason for him to intervene.

If you struggle with eating disorders, self harm, and suicide, procede with caution with this book. 

Another note on the ending,

I thought that Mickey was the one in the family that Pey needed to get a "complete set" since he rushed to save her as she became "disconnected." So I was very much confused when Mickey still died and then the deal was made with Silas.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

soshereads_'s review

dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Violence, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Child death, Torture, and Abortion

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

cheye13's review against another edition

dark sad 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? Yes

3.0

This was an interesting tale. For some reason I wasn't expecting a mystery/thriller element, nor was I expecting how literary in tone this one turned out to be. 

The parallel storylines (in hell and in life) were fascinating but I did ultimately expect something more impressive from their culmination. The primers about how hell works, especially with time, set up a great method for more creatively weaving the two tales together but was entirely underutilized. An interesting story at the time, likely wholly forgettable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Infidelity, Self harm, and Grief

Moderate: Bullying, Drug abuse, Gun violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Abandonment

The book includes a fringe religious cult involving young boys fighting each other to the death. The experience of a girl in foster care is quickly summed up, implying sexual abuse and a mass murder. There is a later attempted premeditated/conspiracy to murder.

pagesandplanets's review

challenging dark emotional funny 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Self harm, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol