Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

35 reviews

poetsofsweetpea's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

This book is violent.  Torture is a feature. I did like it though.  The beginning was slow, but when it hooked me, I was interested until the end.  You have to lean into the suspension of disbelief and let go of your knowledge of science but I've granted that to lesser stories. This is a story that toys with our idea of God.  What happens if he died? It's interesting and despite the horror, unlikable characters and unbelievable science there is something almost charming about it.  The mystery keeps you engaged and then it's hope that sustains you. This book is not for everyone but most assuredly for some.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Murder

meg_elyse's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Drug use, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, Excrement, Vomit, Death of parent, and War

ceridwyn's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense fast-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

3.75

This is a well written page Turner. Bleak, full of horror and too nihilistic for me to enjoy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

kenzielireads's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

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

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

Minor: Cancer, Slavery, and Car accident

bahamyulala's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

theseaiscalm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Abandonment

yavin_iv's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-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? Yes

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Grief, and Car accident

printzgirl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense 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

 Plot: 4/5

Characters: 4/5

Worldbuilding: 3/5

Writing: 3/5

Overall: 4/5

Darkness level: Not very dark. One scary haunted house-esque scene and a description of how a ghost died. However, rated R for some graphic sex scenes

This year, I've been on the lookout for fantasy books that don't follow traditional epic fantasy conventions. No big quests to defeat a world-ending villain. So I was really excited to see a modern fantasy romance book come up as a recommendation for this category. I can count the number of romance books I've read on one hand, which made this book an exciting change for me. Vivienne is a college student studying witchcraft with her aunt and cousin. After her summer fling breaks her heart, she drunkenly curses her ex. Ten years later, Vivienne's ex reappears in her hometown to renew the ley lines that power her family's magic. It turns out that the joking curse she cast on him was a real curse, and now the entire town is going haywire. Vivienne and her ex have to fix the town's magic and resolved their messy feelings for each other. 

This book was very fun. I loved the lighthearted, everyday approach to witches and magic. The characters were memorable and easy to like. My biggest complaint was that there was a lot of lust in this book. I know that it's a romance, but the main characters probably devoted 75% of their mental energy to thinking about how hot the other one was. It was cute/funny at first, but got old after a while. Even people who are in the honeymoon stage of a relationship don't think about each other that much! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape

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, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, and Car accident

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