Reviews tagging 'Death'

Das Dorf der toten Seelen by Camilla Sten

63 reviews

erinmjustice's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide attempt

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

sydoodle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.0

This book grabbed me from the beginning and didn’t let me go! I liked the premise and found the book unsettling. The writing was atmospheric and eerie, with suspense slowly building throughout the book. I’m always a fan of stories about unsolved mysteries and abandoned towns!

As always, I love switching POVs and timelines. The alternating timelines added to the suspense of the story. We see the present day as filmmakers go to the old mining town to make a documentary about the murder of a woman and disappearance of nearly 900 residents from the 1950s. The other timeline takes place during 1959, revealing the events that led up to the murder and disappearance.

I also liked the characters. They were complex and well developed, even the supporting characters! The plot twists usually caught me off guard and a couple I was able to guess. But the ones I guessed were the only logical solution as things became revealed so I wouldn’t call them predictable or cliche. 

There are one or two things that were left open ended and wish would’ve been addressed more. But I can’t say more without spoiling it 😅

The only other thing I didn’t like was the way mental illness is handled; it wasn’t great and was fairly problematic. The author uses the character’s misunderstanding of mental illness as a plot device. I don’t want to go more into it and give away any spoilers but there were several statements that just didn’t sit well for me. This made me drop a star from the overall rating.

It’s a perfect spooky season read given the concept and suspense. I’d recommend if you enjoy ghost stories or unsolved mysteries! If you choose to pick this one up, be aware of the use of mental illness and the other trigger warnings (there’s a lot). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Alcoholism and Miscarriage

burnourhistory's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder

dylpickles's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Ableism, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

Minor: Toxic relationship, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

Brain washing

ekmook's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

_terah_hansen_'s review against another edition

mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Rape, Suicide, Torture, and Murder

herbivorehaunts's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I'd say this is more Blair Witch meets Midnight Mass- I got nothing of Midsommar from this book in terms of tone/plot. 

I had an enjoyable time reading this and really enjoyed the audiobook. The ending was a little bit of a let down for me but I enjoyed the ride leading up to it. The author's note about her personal experience with mental illness and mental illness in horror/history was very interesting and I felt like it added to the book experience. The alternating timelines is usually not my preferred format for a book but thought the two timelines were balanced very well.

I wish this would have been written found footage style in parts, some of the horror elements involving the technology and the crew catching things on camera at the beginning of this book sent shivers down my spine and would have loved to have had more of that throughout.  I look forward to reading more horror from this author!! 

Not the book's fault but I'm begging just once let a "ghost story" be actual ghosts, you blurb it as Blair Witch and I'm expecting found footage with ghosts. The ending really dampened my enjoyment and I felt like the book just ended.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

rapgamenancyreagan's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Mental illness, Blood, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

Minor: Alcoholism

spacecadelliot's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Pregnancy