Reviews tagging 'War'

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

48 reviews

chrisljm's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

This was a well written story, but it’s not something I enjoyed. The vibes were just so terrible, I wanted to throw up a few times. It was as if Scott Hawkins heard the phrase “until the room stinks” and wanted to literally infuse that into the very core of the book. 

The best part of the book, for me, was the resolution to the mystery of what happened to Father. It seemed like a great conclusion, only to find out I still had ~150 pages left. I know part of the premise is Carolyn finding her humanity again, but since that arch is set after the climax of finding out about Father, the juxtaposition in tone of these two parts seemed very strange to me and made me enjoy the last quarter a lot less. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Cursing, Child abuse, Child death, Blood, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Confinement, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Gun violence, War, Torture, Suicide, Rape, Murder, and Gore

Moderate: Bullying, Drug abuse, Alcohol, and Death of parent

Minor: Slavery, Car accident, and Cancer

molly200's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.5

What the fuck did I just read??? That was incredible. Fucked up, sure, but incredible. I sort of grew to like the characters in a way. Tbh, I think this is the only book where I can safely say my favourite character was a fucking lion.... Holy shit. I don't think I'll ever read anything quite like it. It had the sort of loose ends type feel to it that I love in books. Also, yay for lovecraftian/cosmic horror! And also a bit of comedy? I don't know. This book defies genre, words, classification of any kind. I'd even go so far as to say it's a masterpiece.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Animal death, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Torture, Body horror, Addiction, Rape, Vomit, War, Violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia and Grief

bearish's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense

• 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

5.0

Dangerous Librarians, Selfish Gods, Academy for Dark Powered Children Run by Suspicious/Morally Grey Father Figure, Inadvertent Cosmic Horror, Narrator with a Secret, We Love it When a Plan Comes Together, Playing the Long Game, Friends to Enemies, The Talking Lion is Not a Jesus Stand-In, See This is Why We Need Term Limits, A Malice that Has No Bottom

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Child death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Animal death

Moderate: Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and War

mommarex1221's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.0

Do not be discouraged by the 3 ⭐️ rating, this novel is crafted with care and the premise is unique, at least it's unlike anything I've ever read before. I would still recommend it. I did enjoy about half of it, not to say I disliked the remaining half, I just struggled. I was a bit sad about some of the choices made in reference to a certain character, but that's on me and not the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Murder, Suicide, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Torture, Rape, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Alcohol, and Gun violence

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Car accident, and Cancer

amy_wolczyk's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, War, Torture, and Kidnapping

janshi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, War, Violence, Sexual violence, Torture, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, and Child abuse

em_bouche's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Car accident, Gore, and Gun violence

Minor: Abandonment, Death of parent, Murder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Addiction, and Bullying

charlottesreadingweb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny fast-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

3.25

This book is fun, and the plot is very creative. It definitely kept surprising me. It’s one of the more unique books I have read recently.  Some trigger warnings I added under Content Warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: War