Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher

12 reviews

whatkatyread87's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Kingfisher, KEEP IT UP

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, and Medical content

Moderate: Body horror and Confinement

aseel_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I started off liking this more than these twisted things. The plot moved well and kept me on my toes, but then the actual explanation of why these events happened, made no sense/were overly complicated and confusing. When you start bringing in physics to explain your horror novel, you lose me. I liked the banter between Kara and Simon and I loved all the parts of beau following Kara around, love cats 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Blood and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, and Murder

cuddlygryphon's review against another edition

dark 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Blood, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Vomit, and Medical content

Minor: Confinement, Gun violence, Grief, and Cannibalism

kenzielireads's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infidelity and Alcohol

ilaxaria's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Alcohol

Minor: Infidelity and Blood

spineofthesaurus's review against another edition

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting

Minor: Incest and Cannibalism

le_mur's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore and Medical content

jaedia's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

 That was great! Wow. Inspired by a short story called "The Willows" by Algernon Blackwood, somebody who inspired the likes of H.P. Lovecraft, T. Kingfisher weaves an absolutely bonechilling story of other worlds that appear in the walls of her strange but king Uncle Earl's Wonder Museum, full of bizarre taxidermy and other such artifacts.

I'm still stewing on it, really, but I can say that it takes a lot for horror to get under my skin these days, but The Hollow Places creeped me out. And I love every moment of it. Nothing felt out of place, or bland. Kingfisher writes with so much colour and knows the perfect moments to tone it down and... damn. The atmosphere.

Read this if you're a fan of horror, particularly the Weird. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Gore, Mental illness, Medical content, and Alcohol

owlphabetical's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Blood, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Animal cruelty and Alcohol

there is cruelty to animals but they're taxidermy brought to life and it's mostly off screen

emmdashed's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

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

T Kingfisher includes a mix levity and horror in The Hollow Places. While I wouldn't necessarily say it's a full on horror-comedy, it is ultimately much more lighthearted than many books of the same ilk. It certainly toes, and occasionally steps over, the line of being too quippy, and sometimes the jokes broke the tension of scary situations a little bit too much for me. However, Cara and Simon's snark was generally more enjoyable than the dour misery present in many horror novels.

Cara's inner monologue could be a little bit too repetitive for my liking. I understand it is realistic (I certainly struggle with indecision and overthinking), but sometimes I just need the story to get to the point. Not a deal breaker by any means, but it could be a little frustrating.   

Also definitely enjoyed the literary references and fanfiction talk (tell me what her ships are I need to know). 

While her stories may not be the scariest or most tense, T Kingfisher paints some very solid and creepy imagery. The sequences of body horror, whether the characters witness them or just hear about them, are genuinely very unsettling. 

Overall an enjoyable, fun read and I do recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Medical content

Animals aren't killed on the page in this but there is a LOT of taxidermy so if that freaks you out, avoid