Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke

30 reviews

karenschlesser'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Rape, Terminal illness, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal death and Drug use

bella_finlayson's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Abandonment

nikki_dun's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Vomit

thegouldfish's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

The themes of this book - Scottish witch trials, false accusation of innocent people, single parenthood - are good and important. The story is largely compelling but for me it lost intrigue when the main mechanism was revealed. The writing is choppy in places (landscape features are described four times throughout as ‘muscular’, for example, and the use of tenses and persons is a bit incongruous) but nice in others and effectively builds the setting and tension.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Torture, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement, Miscarriage, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Pandemic/Epidemic

echolliot's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Body horror, Cancer, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Blood, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Drug use, Miscarriage, Grief, and Alcohol

harryhai's review against another edition

challenging 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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage

Minor: Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

courtneyhollyy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

This was so eerie and dark and I loved it. It kept me hooked and guessing all throughout and was a really good change of pace from the books I’ve read recently. I listened to this on audio alongside reading it sometimes and I thought the narrators were fab. Great book, big rec from me! 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Cancer, and Child death

friendly_neighborhood_grandma's review

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Captivating story, distinct characters and a very original and well executed idea. It's exactly what I was looking for!
Medieval witches, eerie but not horror scary. Just my thing. I recommend this to people looking for a mystery, the vibes of stormy shores and creepy small isolated island. Also joy and hardships of single parenting. Enjoy!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Torture, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug use, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Creepy kid behavior Children missing

cassie7e's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

"Sometimes you miss someone so badly you want to believe you've found them" A sneaky line that nails the theme of the whole story.

Starts off with a literary tone that could be any other novel spanning multiple timeframes, getting creepier and darker as you go, ramping up the horror at the end. The sci fi aspects wouldn't hold up in a pure sci fi novel I think, but since this one stands on folklore, I didn't give it too much scrutiny for being flimsy on the science. 

This book satisfied my hankering for a dark mysterious story blending Scottish settings, and folktale with reality, and was crafted well to reveal bits and pieces throughout. My early hunch about what was happening with the wildlings was correct, but it took time to know that, and was still enjoyable to watch as the characters figured it out and dealt with the consequences. I wish the witchy parts had been more Scottish than Icelandic/Nordic, just for personal reasons and not any fault of the story in using them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Minor: Miscarriage and Death of parent

caitlin_123a's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death