Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

41 reviews

alexijai98's review against another edition

mysterious sad 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

3.0

I can only read so much about how beautiful and ethereal and mysterious 3 girls are. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

angelica98's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I didn't like the end. It felt like an odd colour patch sewn on a new dress. I could have understood (not forgiven) her choice if she planned to publish a second book, but in my opinion the book worth plummeted because of it.

Tyler's death was the most emotional moment of the book, his choice of not being seen by Grey something complex that left a bad aftertaste in my mouth (I'm all for good endings) but understandable and even admirable. Not nice, but a good choice. The epilogue felt like the publisher compelled the author to write a "happy ending" for Tyler too, or something like that. Why would Iris chose to go back to him after he refused the first time? Why would he refuse to go back with the love of his life but would do so with Iris? I could have understood so if framed as giving him a second chance, but it felt like Iris lost all her character development in a moment

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Vomit, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

s_lorenz's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Suicide, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Bullying, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

ivulikkivulik's review

fast-paced

3.25

The plot twist was kinda what I thought and expected

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual violence

quiet_reader's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

toffishay's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

A dark, exciting, mysterious fairytale. There are some heavy themes and things certainly get intense, but I was really pleased by the way the story comes together...even when things get dark and sad.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

There are some detailed descriptions of rot and death that some readers might be sensitive to.

redefiningrachel's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Bullying, Drug abuse, and Drug use

kaylascozyreads's review against another edition

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Sexual violence

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Alcohol

waytoomanybooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

House of Hollow is a gorgeously written, dark and twisted fairytale set in modern-day Scotland. Iris knows she and her two sisters haven't been normal since they were kidnapped as children. She is determined to figure out exactly who took them, what happened to them, and why they seem to have otherworldly powers. Iris leads readers on a nightmarish journey: through magic doors, coming face-to-face with the walking dead, cursed kisses, and long-lost family members.

This book is totally out of my wheelhouse, but I'm so glad I gave it a chance! It's a fast, fun read, but you should definitely check out trigger/content warnings before reading as the book can get fairly graphic in its depiction of gruesome imagery. If you like Stranger Things, you'll like this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

nikenacs's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

[Book club - November 2022]

Not the biggest fan of this in the beginning, but it really won me over in the end. A tad too YA for my taste, but that's a me problem. Had I read this in my teenage years, I would have been absolutely /obsessed/.

The strong part of this book is definitely the finale, or generally everything that takes place after the hospital. This is where everything that has been laid out before really pays off. The main strong point of the book is that Sutherland is fantastic at describing surroundings, smells, sounds, sensations, all her horrors feel very tangible. The mix between strange natural beauty and body horror worked very well. 

Unfortunately, this strongly descriptive style also felt like one of the main downsides to me. The book is VERY Tell, Don't Show, and I felt like very obvious things were being spelled out for me again and again. I could see most plot points/twists coming a mile away. Maybe this is a YA thing, though, and I really am just a little too old already. The pacing was odd in some places as well.

Overall, it didn't wow me, but it was pretty good. I probably wouldn't have stuck with it if it hadn't been for the book club, but I'm glad I did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, and Grief

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism and Alcohol