Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

53 reviews

clovetra's review against another edition

adventurous 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

2.0

god this book had such potential!! and sadly it did not live up to it. this book's pacing was so odd, and coupled with the fact the actual "mystery" was only explained >80% into this book was a bit.... eyebrow raising.
i will say i liked iris, she was a good protag. kinda was a blank slate but i think that was her role.
vivi can have my soul esp since she seems to love hungarian women. vivi hmu i can show u my grandma's village we can get it on queen. sorry i love a bald lesbian who also is down with the magyars 🔥
grey was... idk. i still cant put my finger on my opinion of her. i mean she was... fine. with how big her role was for this story though... she was a bit of a let down. especially since for like 90% of this book she spoke in cryptic phrases that actually just pissed me off. at some point i want to be reading this book because im invested in the characters, not just that i want them to shut up and stop saying vague terms to actually explain the whole mystery element of this story. like by the end, this book became so interesting! but when i only find the last fourth of your book intriguing......
like

the fact the girls were changelings all along? and killed the real hollow sisters? the dad was the bull (which ngl was predictable but its YA so im not gonna be too harsh on that)? cate knew they were changelings??? tyler had his fucking SKIN REMOVED AND WORN LIKE A SUIT????????

was so good! if the whole book was that i wouldve easily given this 4/5 stars. but when most of ur book is building up to a reveal that doesnt come until the very very end and then almost NOTHING is done with the reveal?????? nawwww
also sorry the minute i read

iris kissed tyler

this book became a chop. sorry i cant fucking stand the

a relative of a missing person & the missing person's partner kiss because they share such a deep love for said missing person

trope. not to mention

iris is 17 and tyler is fucking 20!!!!!!! EW AGE GAP

.
i think a lot of these "issues" i have with this book can be attributed to its YA nature but some... like literally i love the premise i just wished it was executed better. like this book had some great parts! the opening chapters were quite good ngl, as were the final 4 chapters. but everything in the middle? it was not enjoyable for me im afraid. idk i think the concepts explored at the end deserved some more run time, with the whole "ooo where's grey" schtick being shorter as to expand those concepts. i mean for me personally im not saying change the entire book just for little old me 😭 but you know? great concept, missed the mark more often than it probably should have.
also sorry i feel like the "horror" elements were all mish-mashed together. like the flower stuff... the fucky-ass ending with the bull? like idk it reminded me a lot of You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight & She Is a Haunting but idk like those books this felt..... like it was missing multiple puzzle pieces. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Suicide, Vomit, Medical content, Stalking, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Self harm and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

klsreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

Finally got around to reviewing this book, but not for lack of interest. I really enjoyed this dark, immersive, atmospheric fairy tale. It reads on the older end of young adult and delves into some nasty stuff. It was surprisingly scary and gross (be ready for rot, decay, vomit, corpse flowers, bugs, festering wounds, etc.). It was horrific in the best ways, imo, but it won't be for everyone. Two of three sisters are queer, but it's not a main plot point. Overall, it's a love story about sisters, what constitutes a family, and the moral rot that makes people monsters. I tore through this book!

As usual with the stuff I read, check the cw's. Also consider if you're in the right place to engage some existential dread. If this sounds like fun to you, I highly recommend! I will absolutely be reading more Krystal Sutherland - her writing is gritty and gorgeous. I might bump this up to 5 stars soon because I read this 3 weeks ago and I still think about it. Enjoy!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Suicidal thoughts

automatic_rae's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I never knew where the plot was going next. Confusing, intriguing, different to anything else I’ve read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Bullying, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Vomit, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Gore, Blood, and Alcohol

alexasolis98's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This book was eerie and dark. The imagery of rotting and dead things was quite descriptive. The plot dragged a bit at times. Something still felt missing by the end of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Animal death

cturn's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Characters - 8
Atmosphere - 7
Writing - 7
Plot - 7
Intrigue - 5
Logic - 6
Enjoyment - 7
CAWPILE score - 6.7

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

bloomingrose92's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

While horror isn't really my thing, this book was incredibly well written. I particularly liked the descriptions that Sutherland gave. They provided a strong sense of rotting darkness throughout the book with novel phrases I'd never heard before.

And the twist of them not be chased by something that hides in the dark, but being the thing that hides in the dark was excellent. That they killed the three little Hollow girls, stole their bodies, then left them, unburied, as they took over the Hollow sisters' lives. I especially liked the line that Grey called out to the Hollow sisters for help, and they listened, because Grey was a little girl too. And the masked killer haunting them is actually the Hollow's father, coerced by their unholy magic to suicide, and refusing to pass on so that he can finally bring down his children's killers? Chef's kiss. I loved the detail of him finding his children's discarded bodies in the Halfway place, and making graves for them to finally rest. I have a particular fondness for protagonists putting everything they have into fighting a big bad, just to find out that they were the bad they were fighting. And the characterization of our protagonist in this book as a mousy bookworm who just wants to escape the weirdness of her past adds to the twist.

A well-written book, with unlikeable characters that only adds to the ultimate payoff.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Alcohol

tessvosper's review against another edition

adventurous 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Rape, and Alcohol

erudia's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Gore, Stalking, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Addiction, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Death of parent

sea_sea's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.75

Wow, this was an absolutely fascinating and spooky book. It’s full of twist and turns, that you can’t even beginn to predict. It is so hard to put down, the story completely encases you, pulling you further into it‘s dark and rotting depths. 

Alsoo there is sapphic rep!!!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

sparklingstarling's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Sexual harassment