Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand

24 reviews

aofthej's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book was excellent. I would have read this in like 3 days if I wasn’t sick for a week. My only gripe is that the theme did feel a bit heavy handed at times, but this book did literally make me gasp and put my hand over my mouth at one point so I can’t be that upset. I recommend this to people who are chill with horror, sentient islands, and a smidge of toxic sapphic relationships.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement and Misogyny

mostlyvoidpartiallystars's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

An incredible exploration of grief, of the costs of power, and how love changes us. 

The horror was very well built up, making it one of the more terrifying horror novels I've read. 

The only reason it's not a full 5.0 is

I don't feel like the cult was built out well. I like her dad's role in it, and his being forced to choose between it and his daughter, but the rest of the cultists almost felt cartoonishly evil in a way that didn't click for me. I needed a little more for it to land. They're a great complication, but their characterization leaves something to be desired.

Is this story a "Bury Your Gays" trope?

Not at all

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Racism, and Death of parent

halfelfschollar's review

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death

Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Sexism

beccaand's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Acephobia/Arophobia

lauralintunen's review against another edition

dark inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Acephobia/Arophobia

Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

mary_stormageddon's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.0

Started off strong, got a bit weird, then it wasn't as great. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent

runes_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

No spoiler review!
5/5 stars
Read for 2 hours and 41 minutes according to Libby, and picked it up four times (so like 40ish minutes average per sitting)
LOVED this story! The characters were so incredible and interesting, I cared so much for all of them. The POV switching was great and easy to follow, the vibes and word choice and IMAGERY was just amazing. Every character was so distinct and their own whole person. Some stories with POV switching and this many characters get sort of muddled, this certainly did not. It took me a while to love the characters, but once I did? They were so life like. All in all, a wonderful book that made me cry. There are some pretty heavy topics though, so make sure to check with the content warnings first

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Gun violence, Rape, and Sexual assault

ghostlyprince's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Suicide attempt, and Acephobia/Arophobia

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Vomit, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

directorpurry's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Death of parent

emmaward55's review against another edition

dark sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book is perfect for anyone who loves the Charmed TV series and thought it could be scarier.

When I was on chapter four, my working theory was that the missing girls were being turned into horses by Val and her mum: But oh, it's so much darker than that. I love a good horror film, yet I found myself more creeped out in reading this book than I expected to be. Legrand's writing is evocative, tense, and atmospheric, without getting too bogged down in description. There's plenty of action and moments of good character growth throughout.

I read this book in two days, mostly in three long chunks, as I couldn't drag myself away to focus on anything else! I loved the complex relationships of our three protagonists and their characterisations have to be a highlight for me. Can't lie though, I’m sad that we didn’t get a reunion scene at the end between Marion and her mum. Considering that this is a book about female relationships, it feels weird to not include one of the protagonists interacting with the last present female parent of the trio. 

That being said, the above was my only real complaint. I'd certainly read this book again and I recommend it for anyone with a strong stomach!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Misogyny, Vomit, Medical content, Acephobia/Arophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug abuse, Miscarriage, and Suicidal thoughts

Child death and kidnapping:

All are around 17

Self harm:

The only instance I remember is a character burning something off their skin, but it's done to save themselves and others

Drug abuse and suicidal thoughts:

A secondary character isn't trusted with their prescription medication, as a loved one suspects they might intentionally overdose. Nothing actually happens and it's just a brief mention.