Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

6 reviews

buildingtaste's review

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

The Thirteenth Tale is a satisfying gothic send-up, complete with name drops of all the usual 19th-century suspects. However, by placing all the dark twists in the distant past, Setterfield keeps the book from being too tense; like the narrator, readers are encouraged to approach the story-within-a-story as a puzzle, and the "present" action is mostly sedate. Still, with its laundry list of grim events, this one is not for the faint-hearted. Mind the content warnings!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Bullying, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Incest, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexism, and Infidelity

Multiple relationships are codependent, violent, controlling and incestuous/bordering on incestuous.

Major characters are revealed to be the likely product of incest and rape.

Multiple violent and disturbing deaths, self-inflicted and by others. Some characters live in isolation and neglect their home; the decay and unsanitary conditions are described in detail. Terminal illness is a major plot point. The death of siblings and grief is a major plot point. A character is institutionalized. A character is confined for a medical/psychological experiment. Multiple characters are shown self-harming as children and adults.

A character attempts to murder an infant.

dragonaion's review

adventurous 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

5.0

This isn't my usual genre (fantasy or historical fiction), and when I started the book I was skeptical. However, the storytelling not only kept me reading, but set me down new paths that were completely unexpected and a delight to discover. The story itself is also darker than most, but it was well placed and not excessive; the story is told in such a way I'm certain that someone, somewhere, knows these lives very well.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Self harm, Emotional abuse, and Incest

Minor: Physical abuse, Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Excrement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Ableism, Death of parent, Grief, Pregnancy, Rape, and Toxic relationship

This is meant for an adult audience and has a lot of dark themes within one family that is absolutely unhealthy mentally, physically, and emotionally.

meg_elyse's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, Death, Excrement, Medical content, Bullying, Death of parent, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, and Incest

t_higgsreviews's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

5 Stars
CAWPILE = 9.43

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Terminal illness, Self harm, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Vomit, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Excrement, and Medical content

anni_swanilda's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Excrement, Grief, Terminal illness, and Vomit

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Incest

paolina's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.0

Prose a little too purple for me, plot a little too plodding, and drama a bit too messy for me to enjoy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Incest, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Vomit, Drug use, and Dementia