Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

96 reviews

zsanc's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny informative mysterious tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Rape, and Vomit

chrispy_mac's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I saw/heard only positive reviews on this book and I don't really get it. The real life mentions of actual famous people really took me out, and found the characterization of most characters quite shallow, and there was way too much exposition in the dialogue. I understand what's happening, you don't need to explain it again by the characters talking about it. There were some really dumb parts involving the unnamed

president of the united states

in an urban fantasy.. and the fantasy elements were interesting but never explained at all. Basically just don't worry about it.

There were also just some weird, gross moments in this book that felt really unnecessary.

I'll give it this, it was entertaining and was a fairly quick read, so if you just want to not think about the fantasy elements or characters too deeply, and want an entertaining time, you might like this book. I think it's competently written for the most part, for my personal taste I just wish I'd have skipped it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Child abuse, War, Sexual assault, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Homophobia, and Suicide

ana_vargas's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Gore, Blood, Torture, Body horror, Bullying, War, Violence, Animal death, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

helenleone's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Bullying, Torture, Murder, Gun violence, Death of parent, Blood, War, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Animal death, Suicide, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Rape, and Drug use

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Confinement, Child death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Car accident, Police brutality, Grief, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Cursing, and Fire/Fire injury

syddevo's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

A common review I've seen about this book is that you can't really describe it in a good enough way, you just have to read it. Now that I have finished the book, I understand this statement entirely. I would HIGHLY recommend reviewing content warnings if you have any strong stances on topics you do not wish to read about.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Violence, Gore, Animal cruelty, Blood, Murder, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Body horror, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Rape, Sexual content, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Drug use, Grief, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, and Medical content

Minor: Abandonment and Car accident

floressius's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Suicide, Child abuse, Violence, Animal death, Murder, and Child death

Moderate: Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Drug use, and Physical abuse

ahoyitsjoy'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Such a good book. Very confusing, but everything comes together well in the end. I found the librarians, and especially Carolyn, so fascinating. The book almost never explicitly tells you what's going on with her, but there's so much between what's said and unsaid that makes her one of the most interesting characters I've ever read about. The writing is so good at effortlessly moving between brutal violence and horror, absurd humor, and brief moments of quiet contemplation of what it means to be human. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Emotional abuse, Child death, Animal death, Blood, Violence, Child abuse, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, and Death

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Alcohol, Suicide, Mental illness, Rape, and Body horror

Minor: Genocide, Car accident, Vomit, Excrement, and War

pinkyoshi's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic friendship, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Violence, War, Blood, Domestic abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Mass/school shootings, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

Minor: Car accident

katieo156's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

This was baffling. I'm not sure I truly liked a single character- Erwin was someone you liked against your own better judgement, and Steve was so clearly a plot device masquerading as a character

which makes sense!

that he didn't really reach personhood for me. I disliked

Father's characterization after resurrection- even with Carolyn in his place power wise it was too strong of a switch to friendly, humorous Dad, especially after we got to see him as "Mr. Black" where he looks at Carolyn with love exactly one time.

It took me forever to get through for a story I was enjoying, or at least intrigued by, but when I finished it I immediately recommended it to three people with strong stomachs. I do like a book with cold divinity, a horror twist, and foreshadowing that makes you pause in disbelief/anger/amusement once it clicks, so in that sense, this book was right up my alley. I'm glad I went into it blind outside of "it was weird" because I got to feel out every inch of weirdness myself. This is one of those books that feels like it fell into the author's head fully formed because I can't understand how the hell he fit all of it in there in the first place. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Domestic abuse

tetrootz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

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