Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes

26 reviews

sophee_568's review against another edition

dark 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

3.5

This was alright. The first 30% was slow paced, but afterwards it definitely picks up. I'm not that satisfied with the plot, or the characters. The plot seemed out of focus a lot of the time. The MC battles her childhood trauma the whole time, which gets in the way of the plot. The ending is incredibly unsatisfying and cut too short. There is not enough backstory to the planet where the book takes place, or to the

"aliens"

. I accidentally spoiled the big reveal for myself by reading a review, when I was still early in the book, but I didn't mind bc I trusted the author. Reading this was fun, and I was absolutely hooked, but unfortunately it's not as amazing as Dead Silence. I'm not sure this book will be memorable in the long run.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Child abuse

bookcheshirecat's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Grief, Self harm, Murder, Violence, Blood, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Domestic abuse and Child abuse

eed8's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Suicide, Death, Gore, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Death of parent, Confinement, Classism, Gun violence, and Violence

machenn's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Blood, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Cursing, and Death

shay43geek's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death, Violence, and Mental illness

Moderate: Grief, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Body horror, and Blood

vexatiousbird's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Didn’t love it as much as Dead Silence, but decent sci-fi horror with some skin-crawling body horror. Pacing is better here actually, it just didn’t grip me in the same way.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Death

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Domestic abuse

barometz's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

Definitely a slow start, slowed down further by the amount of time that Ophelia spends mooning over Severin*. At almost no point could I take her seriously as a medical professional. But once the horror kicked off, I was still totally sucked in. Ultimately, I wished we could have had more time with

the alien entity

before the book ended.

*I think I jokingly whined to a friend who was also reading this book that it was too heterosexual for me, but it did make me very glad to see queer people included even if just as background characters. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body horror, Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Medical content, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicide, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, and Death

Moderate: Self harm, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent

aileron's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Body horror, and Death

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Medical content

Minor: Death of parent and Dementia

theartsybookwitch's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

"But I think if you let the past haunt you, if you can't accept it, it's that much harder to make better choices in the future."

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes is my first read by them, and while I don't know what I was truly expecting, only knowing that it was a space exploration with a death, I felt like it was way more naturally science fiction than horror.

I did really enjoy Barne's writing style, but I think the main problem I had with Ghost Station was the pacing. The summary makes the main twist out to be near the beginning of the book, when it doesn't happen until at least halfway through. I feel like it had more of a focus on the team, and while the team is an important part, until around 60% in, the true danger wasn't a huge part of it yet.

I felt a certain disconnect with Ophelia, a psychologist who's sent to help with the team. To help escape her trauma, she comes along with the team to explore a planet, and is sucked right back in. There could've been a lot more understanding coming from both sides of her coming along, especially from Ophelia herself.

Ethan was probably my fav character. He just wants to help, and make the most out of a bad situation, but after the team's lies and deception, he feels frustrated and sad cause he blames himself for everything that's happened. He's just a huge teddy bear, be honest.

Overall, if you're a fan of sci-fi, horror, body horror, and Barnes, you will enjoy Ghost Station.

tw // Death, Blood, Violence, Gun violence, Medical content, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Dementia, Child death, Body horror

#space #sciencefiction #scifi #scifihorror 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Gun violence and Suicide

Minor: Dementia

ms_rey's review

3.75

Her first novel was creepier with a better ending. I would've loved more show & less tell re: the MC's self-psychoanalysis. This was fine and I'll read her next novel, assuming we get one, but if it's this level then she'll no longer be a must-read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Violence

Moderate: Body horror and Schizophrenia/Psychosis