Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Naomi's Room by Jonathan Aycliffe

3 reviews

stephanieluxton's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

The first act of this book was perfect. I was scared, intrigued, paranoid, sad, and excited to read more.

Then things just got ridiculous. I don't quite understand "the rules" for the paranormal in this book. The info dumping got pretty ridiculous. Characters made questionable choices.

It got really dark. And that's not a bad thing, necessarily. But the author made one thing happen that really pushed me over the edge and made me super uncomfortable (which I'll include in the content warnings). It isn't a splatterpunk book so while some gruesome shit goes down, it's not all in excruciating detail.

The end wasn't satisfying or particularly scary either. It just made me feel worse than I did before I read it. If you want me to ruin the ending for you, I'll tell you what happens in the content warning section.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Obviously Naomi dies but we don't see it. We know her body is mutilated and it's sad. The thing that bothered my most was at the end when our main character gets basically possessed, slaughters his young niece, chains up his wife and sister and rapes them both for awhile before killing them too. It's all pretty icky but the incest was a huge NO from me. It just made everything worse. If you want to know more spoilers, the house was already haunted by a man who was a deranged doctor. He tortured and murdered his wife and two daughters in a secret room in the attic. They all haunt the house in present day. He possesses another guy to kill Naomi first before possessing the dad after awhile. The story ends with the dad moving out of the house and a new doctor moving in with his family, who will inevitably repeat the cycle again. Sad stuff. Not fun.

skogsdottir's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

5/5 for the first half, 2/5 for the last. The beginning was incredibly tense and interesting and I couldn't put down the book. However, the ending felt rushed, some details were left unexplained and I was disappointed to see violence against women become a prominent theme near the end. I boycott this theme in entertainment because it's just not entertaining due to it being a reality for so many women. The shock factor was there for sure, but it went from spooky and tense to gross and uncomfortable. It became a different book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, and Rape

skiz's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail