Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Дикие by Rory Power

155 reviews

wishling's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Blood, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death

tkhenry99's review against another edition

3.5

had to sit with this for a minute but i think i liked it? i was surprised how violent it was tho. i didn’t really care for the romantic subplot, i felt like it should’ve either always been present or been super slow burn, but it kind of just came out of nowhere, there was exactly 1 scene where something “romantic” happened, and then it just never came up again? 

(also for everyone complaining about how unlikeable the characters are, that is literally the point of the book)

i think the ambiguous ending was fine, it really did not leave that much room for confusion.

like what does everyone think is going to happen next? the girls are in a boat heading to the mainland. it’s really not ambiguous at all

maybe work on ur reading comprehension skills if it felt too open ended :-/

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Suicide, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Medical content, and Grief

iguanasarespicy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, and Murder

parkerluck's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-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? N/A

2.75

This was fine. It was a quick read with some neat concepts that don't really get dug into. I didn't find Hetty particularly compelling and the plot beats were all pretty par the course for a story like this. Didn't really have the tension/descent to warrant the Lord of the Flies billing, honestly. 

I also found it distracting that

the bear was just a photocopy of the Annihilation bear?? No one wanted to make that a different animal during the editing process?

Something I might rec to a younger family member as gateway horror, but not something I will remember for long now that I'm finished it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Violence

Moderate: Self harm, Medical content, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Torture, and Murder

apolloniablooms's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.0

It really choked at the end, which felt rushed.  Overall glad I read it, but it feels like a shadow of books like Annihilation and Inspection which do the same thing but feel more complete.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

louisegraveyard's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Death of parent

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

cambiongray's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

 This book was a part of a bundle I picked up blindly at my local library. I was sold upon looking at the cover and reading the blurb. The premise seemed so interesting, I did not imagine I had just signed myself up for another retelling of Lord of the flies..

The story picks up a year and a half after some mysterious virus/illness/toxin known as the tox has infected Raxter school. Both the Island itself and the girls have become twisted versions of themselves. And maybe it is because of this that the author makes the main characters so unlikable. I really want to give the benefit of the doubt.

The worse part, however, was when one of the main characters seemed to be showing signs of growth and not being a selfish asshole, she makes a choice that brings her back to square 1. Hell not even square one. It’s like she took 2 steps forward and 6 steps back.

Over all, despite the lesbians, not a book I would recommend.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, and Death of parent

thenareads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

this book was so... just so good. i read it weeks ago & i still think of it sometimes now. it essentially was very dystopian and apocalyptic, without an actual apocalypse occurring. even though it meant to explore (at least i think?) human behaviours in post-apocalyptic situations, i feel like the book imparted me w more commentary on authoritative figures, government, and rebellion. it really made me think, especially towards the end.

hetty and reese’s breach of quarantine seemed like it was fuelled by justice for byatt, but it actually ended up leading to the downfall of them all. that part especially will never leave me because it worries me that acts of rebellion fuelled by a sense of justice may only worsen what we’re trying to help. it also worries me because, in part, it was fuelled by hetty’s hatred for her teacher, but she realised too late that she only meant to help and headmistress was the one who truly didn’t care. what if, in the chase of justice, we misplace our trust? how much will it cost us?

it was overall very thought-provoking and i could ramble on about everything in this book. my only two critics are that there is absolutely zero diversity. the school is literally all just a bunch of cis, white girls & one asian girl. i think it would’ve been much more interesting if girls of different backgrounds were included—not just race-wise, but class-wise, gender identity-wise, etc etc. this would’ve made for more complex and differing character dynamics & as well as plot progression, but even with all that aside, there’s no good reason why there couldn’t have been more diverse characters. my second critic is particular to the ending, but i think there was too much plot armour at the end, which really stunted the main character’s growth.

for example, when hetty and reese went to reese’s house, reese dying would’ve forced hetty to reflect and determined whether everything was worth it. it would’ve been nice to see if hetty’s fierce determination to get off the island and save byatt would’ve remained if reese died. but reese living was somewhat plausible. what i don’t think should’ve happened at ALL was byatt living at the end. that moment where tension grew between reese and hetty, as they had opposing views on what to do with byatt was such good potential for their character growth & dynamic with each other. but, instead, byatt “came back to life” and squashed all that. from that point onward, i just remember feeling like the ending was suddenly cut short, like the author had planned for this to be a duology, with the second book lingering on their escape, but was suddenly told that wouldn’t be possible. or maybe the author thought to drive the point home of reese and byatt being hetty’s girls, they all needed to see the end. i’m not sure what the reason was, but byatt logically should’ve died.

also! another piece of criticism i just remembered now. i feel like reese’s character was done dirty, especially in some bits. i’m not sure if the author was trying to antagonise reese for their dynamic or hetty is an unreliable narrator, but around the middle to end of the book i started to realise that reese’s earlier actions

(her choking hetty)

made no sense with the characterisation that was being revealed. even though hetty reflected on some of their past interactions, it just felt like the author forgot certain things reese said or did and wrote an almost completely different character for the second to third arc of the book. i obviously preferred her in those parts, but the inconsistency in characterisation really doesn’t make sense to me. i feel like it’s also part of the reason people don’t like reese because, out of the three, i personally believe she had the least fatal flaws and reasonable, realistic reactions to the plot. but that may just be my personal bias. overall, this was a very good book. i would definitely recommend it to a friend (i already have) and i can’t wait to reread it in the far future!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Body horror, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent

jazminnnnnnn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail