Reviews tagging 'War'

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

47 reviews

abookwormspov'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
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was absolutely insane. Deeply unsettling. And it ruled.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Alcohol, Self harm, War, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Slavery, Toxic friendship, and Violence

carbs666's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated

4.0

Ok first of all: huge TW for literally every thing you could possibly imagine and a bunch of stuff you couldn't. Now I'm going to try to describe what I liked and disliked without spoilers, which is difficult so bear with me.

I liked how conversationally the book is written, how wacky the characters are (real people are wacky so this made them really whole to me), and how even when the narrative is taken over by one character's POV it maintains a good omniscient remove. I also liked how intricate the book was and how the author released just enough information about the central mystery to keep you paying attention. There are no throw-away scenes in this book; absolutely everything matters.

The core thing I didn't like about the book is that I thought the final act was a bit drawn out, and while I did think Carolyn experienced some growth of character I felt the implication that things work out for her was somewhat.....unearned? Absolute power corrupts absolutely and all that. 

Anyways, if you like weird-ass books and aren't troubled by some of the most horrifying, traumatic shit that can happen to a person, you're gonna love this book! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Torture, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Violence, War, Addiction, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, and Suicide

rely's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

Brilliant, thought provoking

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, War, Grief, Gun violence, Torture, Child death, Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Cancer, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Rape

random19379's review against another edition

funny mysterious reflective 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Child death, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, Gore, Torture, Violence, Abandonment, Grief, Murder, Body horror, Medical content, Suicide, and War

Moderate: Rape and Incest

kermittuesday's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Deeply weird, but very good. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Torture, Rape, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Death of parent, Blood, Suicide, War, Gun violence, Death, and Child death

Minor: Car accident

saroreen's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Blood, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide, Child death, War, Torture, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, and Animal death

rosienia's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, War, and Suicide

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

cocorenfroe's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, War, Suicide, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, and Rape

onlyincursive's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.5

A wild ride from start to finish. This book is for the readers who grew up on stories about kids with powers (e.g. Animorphs, Percy Jackson) and who want the adult version. The type of book that I would recommend to everyone - if only the content warning list wasn’t so long!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Violence, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Torture, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Cursing, Rape, Drug abuse, Xenophobia, Car accident, War, Toxic friendship, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Misogyny, Bullying, Classism, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Islamophobia, and Pregnancy

This book is hard to warn for. Be especially aware that there is torture and murder of children

(many of whom are effectively immortal and experience this torture and murder multiple times)

, as well as a lot of animal death

(including many, many dogs)

.

beancastro's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

very dark dark academia, beautiful world building and very cool idea but not everything was wrapped up, hard to enjoy it when it’s so dark and gory 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Suicide, War, Murder, and Torture

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Rape, and Gore