Reviews tagging 'Violence'

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

211 reviews

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

fadeddpages's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

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

luunacy's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying

lifeofchrstnlvly's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I like weird books and I cannot lie. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Drug use, Self harm, and Stalking

moonylovesstars's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment

angievansprang's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

This book was so fantastic. I was in quite a reading rut before picking this up, and I feel thoroughly cured and refreshed now. I could hardly put this down, the plot was so compelling. Though this is not marketed as a mystery or a thriller, I found those aspects of the story to be very strong. The descriptive writing has described scents almost hitting you at the back of the throat as a reader, and the twists in the plot were awesome. I would definitely recommend this book if you like horror! Such an inventive and creative genre.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Blood

Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Vomit, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death, Child death, and Kidnapping

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

thebiblioboo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, and Murder

of_fantasy_and_fibre's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.75

An interesting take on the folklore surrounding missing children. Will add full review soon 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Sexism, Violence, Vomit, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Torture