Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher

17 reviews

kalkail's review

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism

meganpbell's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This is a downright disturbing and deliciously atmospheric work of folkhorror, from hoarder’s house to haunted woods, narrated with unexpected humor by a woman who just wants to keep her dumb dog safe. What I didn’t know until the very end is that this book is inspired by a 1904 classic horror short story by Arthur Machen, and while you can definitely enjoy this book without knowing the story, I felt like I was missing something once I knew!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Gore

Moderate: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Confinement

Minor: Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Child death, Infertility, Racism, Death of parent, and Dementia

aidareads's review

dark funny 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

a solid 4 stars because it wasn’t bad, but i think i wanted to be creeped out and i wasn’t for the most part. still, it has very engaging writing style, and i loved foxy’s characterization. and i adored bongo. there was a lot of comic relief and fantasy tropes, so maybe that’s why it wasn’t extremely creepy. i still liked it tho! definitely an upgrade from the last books i’ve read lmao

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Dementia

Moderate: Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, and Racism

jessereadsthings's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Animal death, Racism, and Rape

aparker89's review

adventurous emotional mysterious 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? No

3.75

Everyone knows that a hoarder's home is a nightmare in and of itself, but what if that hoard was hiding something even more devilish. When Mouse's grandmother finally passes away and her house needs to be dealt with, she doesn't know what to expect. She also doesn't know that there might just be monsters awaiting her arrival. Between reading her dementia addled grandfather's journal and dealing with a mountainous mess- what could possibly be worse. Well Mouse finds out... but thank goodness for hwr coonhound to keep her grounded through an adventure that can't quite be understood but definitely is a doozy! 

I still can't get over the fairy monsters in pure hillbilly fashion... they will be haunting my dreams for years to come!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Stalking

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Murder, Slavery, and Violence

shadowspinner's review

dark mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Animal death, and Death

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Gun violence

Minor: Death of parent, Racism, and Emotional abuse

emzhay's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

The first 60% was a type of horror that really had me creeped out a scared to look out of the corner of my eye. It was thrilling, and I was sucked in. The last 30% I have mixed feeling about. The horror imagery still hit that same beat, but the plot direction and the cut-in humor was pulling me out of the story. I really don’t know exactly how I feel about the ending, but it’s not exactly positive. 

I wasn’t too fond of the narrator either, but I also didn’t hate her. Mouse’s attempted southern jokes came off as sly classiest comments and that irked me. They did disappear in the later half, but there were enough comments early on for her to leave a bad impression. 

I would rate lower, but I really did enjoy it a lot up until the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Racism and Classism

leaffolk's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Racism, Body horror, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

jasmine256's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Animal death, and Body horror

Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Dementia

Minor: Death of parent, Child death, and Racism

zachisreading's review

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

The Twisted Ones is a book that does a lot of things right. You'll find yourself propelled forward by the main character's wit into a curious mystery that becomes more and more strange the further in you go. The haunting refrain of her step grandfather's journal, from which the book takes it's name, will stick with you between readings. It is a hard book to put down, and even harder to stay away from.

Then, in the last handful of chapters, I felt the book fumbled the dismount. Too much was revealed too fast and too completely. Significant parts of the mystery wind up tossed to the curb in the fantastical reveals. The monsters wind up being too human, largely discarding the eldritch horror that fueled the book up to this point. The unknowable becomes known, at least in part, and that removes some of the terror. 

Still, it's not a book to be left unread. It's creeping horror is a lovely, well-crafted thing that could easily have felt dated if not for the protagonist's thoroughly modern voice. Plus, there's a dog. And everyone needs more dogs in their lives. Even fictional ones. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Infertility

Minor: Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Violence, Blood, Stalking, and Racism