Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Lute by Jennifer Marie Thorne

9 reviews

livlamentloathe's review

4.25

Jennifer Thorne does an excellent job introducing main characters who could so easily be unreliable. I won’t say if that exemplifies Nina. But I love how she creates secrets and tensions and allows the narrator to feel like maybe she IS the problem. For us to do the work of deciding. And then after the climactic event, the little traits that we never noticed paint a much more vivid picture. The details are great. And I loved the way Nina thought.

The Day built so well, but the novel never drifted as far into horror as I’d have liked. Also there are no predictions of death a la Final Destination the characters don’t “cheat death” by avoiding a particular fate. It reminded more of The Cabin in the Woods. [spoiler for movie:

The way they bet on who would die and which characters would trigger which events. And basically the conclusion was foregone but how the story played out depended on the individual players

.] But even so, it was very enjoyable. I went in thinking it would be one thing, which it was not. But I really enjoyed the soft ghostly story nonetheless.

Lute was a haunting story about community and resilience and love. About faith and trust and holding onto one another during dark times. And it's also a reminder that you should more fully understand someone before you marry them. Especially a man.

Does the dog die?

NO!! :)

P.S. fuck Hugh.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Body horror, Gun violence, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, and Death of parent

purcellapple's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Blood

Moderate: Death and Self harm

Minor: Xenophobia and War

mand_al_orian's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Terminal illness and War

sugarmag995's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Murder

lizkoroskenyi's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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? N/A

2.0

This book was just so dull. I was excited for a creepy, dark story about a remote island and the mysterious ritual that happens every seven years. Instead I had to follow along for a character deep dive on a protagonist I didn't really find all that interesting. Honestly this read FAR more like woman's lit than it ever did a horror novel. Now that I think more on it, It was absolutely woman's literature with a small sprinkling of dark fantasy. More like a dash.

Honestly I hated this. 2 stars because I think it was written well and I think it could be enjoyed by an audience looking for this. But I am not that target audience and I feel very deceived by the description.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Self harm, and Murder

Minor: War

bookcaptivated's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Child abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Dementia, and War

mirificmoxie's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Grief, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Classism

bookishbutch's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Self harm and Suicide

enchantressreads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

Lute is a perfect read for spooky season. Although it takes place during the summer, the vibe of the story is mysterious, dark, and scary. I’m a huge fan of folk horror, and Lute does not disappoint.

Nina Treadway moved to the Isle of Lute seven years ago, and is soon going to experience her first “Day” on the island. The Day of the Tithe requires a sacrifice of seven souls in order to keep Lute happy, healthy, with good weather and good luck. With a war going on, it is imperative that they keep Lute and its residents safe.

There are many different parts of this story that I love and they combine to create a great folk horror. It’s a small town, where everyone knows each other. There’s somewhat of a cult, since there’s ancient pagan gods involved. There’s family secrets, because Hugh Treadway is exceptionally secretive about his past. There’s a strong female main character. Nina is a wonderful lead character, and she really grew into her role by the end of the book.

The story is told in time increments until the end of The Day. I think this really gave it another push towards being scary. It adds a layer of anxiety that really wasn’t there before. I always love a good countdown in a story. Add this to the generally creepy vibe of the book, and you have a perfect folk horror story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for this advanced review copy. All opinions are my own. Lute releases on October 4th.

CW for death, fire, blood, infidelity, child death, suicide attempt, war, vomit, self-harm, emotional abuse, death of a parent, and animal death

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Self harm, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and War

Minor: Animal death and Death of parent

assisted suicide for terminally ill people