Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon

13 reviews

librarymouse's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

This was a really enjoyable and engaging read. It was  eally well written, especially in how the storytelling explores how a story can be warped as it passes through multiple perspectives. Young Eric, Violet, and Iris are lovely and the pacing between the late 70s and late 2010s works really well. This is another one of those books, that while I know it's horror, it doesn't read as necessarily scary for me. The nuance of the characters was the driving force behind the book.

one thing that was Neve quite far enough explored was the kiss scene. I think it was meant to express Violet's impulsiveness seeping back through as she forsakes the medications she's being given and looks into what she thinks is Iris's past. That and the lure Violet feels towards Iris; the desire to know and be known. Just having that expressed through a kiss between characters referred to as sisters throughout the whole rest of the book was odd. Especially so when it was never brought up again. Violet having wished for a sister, and having that wish fulfilled is deeply unsettling, knowing their Gran had Eric keeping tabs on her and was using hypnosis on her. The ending of the book and the uncovering that Violet is patient S puts quite a lot of earlier events into perspective.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Grief, Violence, Gore, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Animal death, Physical abuse, Confinement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Death, Medical trauma, Body horror, Medical content, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Mental illness

Moderate: Addiction and Death of parent

Minor: Gun violence, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Ableism, and Incest

Also warning for eugenics

libraryghost'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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Death, Car accident, Ableism, Body horror, Murder, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Violence, Torture, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Confinement

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Mental illness

readrienne's review against another edition

mysterious 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

The book is fine but it’s more YA than I understood from the blurbs.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Child abuse, and Ableism

Moderate: Death of parent and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death

magellen's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

This was my second read from McMahon, a sort of 'well maybe a different book is better' attempt after my first choice was lacking. I will go ahead and say this is not a horror or a thriller but only a novel, trying to thrill on occasion.

Meaning 😑 this will be my last attempt on McMahon- honestly it's probably a stylistic thing that some people like, but this author drowns you in rehashing and scenery. If the scenery was important, I'd be less bothered, but she will list off every object in a dang room and where they sit and back info on them whether or not its pertinent to the plot. I can't tell you what the majority of characters look like because they have such fleeting moments that lack individual voice but I could probably draw you a map of the setting. Wish I was kidding.

My other issue is while breadcrumbs are all good and well - bc twists SHOULD have clues that lead to them, so an audience may or may not guess on first read- guessing multiple twists within the first couple chapters is...disappointing.

If you think you know who Lizzie is, who the *monster* is, what happened to the girls, and who Vi is early on, buddy you probably guessed right bc the twists are as transparent as cellophane. By the time matters roll out in the back quarter of the book it's just like yeah yeah get it over with. The sociopathic freight train chugs right along and I feel like you'd have to be entirely zoned out not to catch it early.

If you like McMahon's style, you'll probably enjoy this book. It is stronger than The Invited in some ways ('cause god that romance/couple was grating to read, yeesh did they even like one another) but also lacking in voice. The Invited had a darker tone by focusing on violence against women and had more passion for the matter, while CotH is more

whoops grandma turned out to be a eugenicist but we still love her sort of and guess all the people she hurt are just up shit creek.

 

Happy to say this author just isn't for me, but if you want sprawling settling description about bland interiors, maybe she'll be a match for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Murder, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, and Mental illness

lvdani's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism and Abandonment

lpdx's review

dark mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Mental illness, Murder, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Kidnapping, and Medical content

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Car accident, and Death of parent

molsreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Death, Ableism, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Torture, Mental illness, and Child abuse

toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

An awesome, spooky and twisty take on "Frankenstein." It was so good that I often forgot that it was a retelling. It's so good at standing on its own in that way. I feel like there isn't a lot that I can say about this book without giving stuff away - I went into it mostly blindly and all I knew was that it had creepy kids and that it was a Frankenstein retelling. That's all I needed. So, if that's all you need, pick it up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Gun violence, Murder, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Torture, Animal death, Child death, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Xenophobia, Medical trauma, Medical content, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, and Racism

Moderate: Fatphobia and Incest

Minor: Abortion, War, Self harm, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Excrement

erin_b's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Violence, Xenophobia, and Medical trauma

kierstm's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Medical content, Classism, Torture, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Hate crime