Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Naomi's Room by Jonathan Aycliffe

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

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.

kklosowski09's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Rape, Confinement, and Suicide

teebe's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Child abuse, and Death

Moderate: Body horror, Violence, Child death, and Murder

Minor: Incest, Kidnapping, and Sexual assault

kermit_the_wrong's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

book equivalent of edging without a satisfying payoff 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Medical content, Torture, Pregnancy, Drug use, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Grief, Child death, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Rape, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Incest, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide

enchantressreads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Blood, Child abuse, Murder, and Rape

Moderate: Suicide, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Incest

medical experimentation

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