Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

White Horse by Erika T. Wurth

59 reviews

onemamareads's review

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Read my full review here: https://onemamassummer.weebly.com/book-reviews/white-horse

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Death of parent, Gun violence, Alcohol, Misogyny, Grief, Gore, Emotional abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Murder, Gaslighting, Addiction, Racism, Child abuse, Blood, Colonisation, Violence, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Body horror

aseaisme's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

2.25

I wouldn’t consider this horror - this was more of a crime/thriller/family drama story. It could have been 30% shorter. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Drug use

Moderate: Child abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Drug use, Pedophilia, and Death of parent

corncake's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

3.0

Less horror, more supernatural family drama. I enjoyed the protagonist - a gritty and messy individual with a soft heart for those she loves. And the story wasn’t bad, I just felt a bit bored while reading - probably cause I was expecting something a bit more scary and less domestic. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide, Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, Suicide attempt, Violence, Cursing, Death, Grief, Alcohol, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Body horror, and Domestic abuse

mike_the_goblin's review

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

I will be honest in saying there are some things about this book that are not going to work for people, there are somethings that didn't work for me, but for a debut novel this is fantastic. What really stands out about this novel are the main characters range of introspection and personal growth. Some of the side characters are a little less fleshed out but it's not really distracting because it's partly due to the story being told from the main characters perspective.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Sexism and Addiction

ofbooksandechos's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Grief, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Child abuse, Toxic relationship, and Pedophilia

Minor: Abandonment, Sexual assault, and Gun violence

Additional CWs: intergenerational trauma

vm_henson's review

dark mysterious 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Addiction, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Racism

waterbear0821's review against another edition

dark medium-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

3.5

My favorite part of this book were the insights into indigenous culture. I didn’t particularly like that is was crammed with trauma. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, and Drug use

Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, and Racism

blackcatkai's review

dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

I don't think I'm the biggest fan of the ending overall and the story was a bit slower paced. the descriptions were pretty great & I enjoyed the horror aspects. it had some fun nods to Stephen King & his work and I was definitely uncomfortable & tense in a few different moments so bravo! I would definitely pick up more of Wurth's work in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, Gore, Violence, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Body horror, Alcohol, Addiction, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Domestic abuse, Blood, Child abuse, Ableism, and Gun violence

Moderate: Medical content and Sexual assault

carriepond's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

White Horse by Erika T. Wurth opens with our protagonist, Kari James, in the bar after which the novel is named. Kari is an urban Native who loves heavy metal music, Stephen King novels, and hanging out with her cousin, Debby, whenever Debby's controlling husband okays it. Debby has found a bracelet that used to belong to Kari's mother, who disappeared when Kari was a baby. Kari has always assumed that her mother left her and her father and her father, who is incapacitated by a traumatic brain injury after a car wreck when Kari was young, is unable to offer insight. Soon, Kari begins to have visions of her mother's ghost, prompting her to open all manner of old wounds in search of the truth.

Although there were a lot of things I really liked about this book, in the end, it didn't quite come together for me. Pros: I loved how Wurth used Indigenous spirituality and culture to add depth to the typical ghost story. I also loved Wurth's description of Denver and all the places Kari went-- I felt like I was there and it made me want to visit Denver immediately. I also loved how the world Kari inhabits is imbued with native culture without Wurth overexplaining or hand-holding readers who might not be familiar-- it is what it is, and it feels authentic and complete as a result. I also love the way Wurth explores trauma, both individual and collective, and how those traumas ripple down and reverberate through generations. Cons: I found the plot to be pretty predictable and a little all over the place at times, and Wurth spent a lot of time on subplots that I found uninteresting and a little annoying (Debby and her husband, for example), which distracted me from the elements of the novel that were really interesting and compelling.

Although this didn't quite live up to my expectations, I would still recommend it to fans of horror that subverts norms and explores big ideas while still being spooky. There were a lot of great elements here, and I would check out a future novel from Wurth.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Gun violence

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, and Misogyny

Minor: Car accident

yuyuv's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Drug use, Medical content, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Cursing, Addiction, Blood, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Car accident