Reviews tagging 'Grief'

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

179 reviews

faraway_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

3.0

It walks the thin line between bizarre and bad... which is why I obviously enjoyed it
Quite disturbing too at times

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

zsnails99's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

obsydian's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Suicide, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury

fanni_ambr_'s review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Vomit, and Abandonment

moogblue's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.25

The Americanisms in the first few chapters of the book were distracting and should have been caught during the edit of a book set in England with English characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

bookdragonkatie's review against another edition

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Vomit, Grief, and Murder

drtx_bwt's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Grief

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, and Violence

Minor: Bullying, Suicide, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

lue_moon's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I really enjoyed this book. Debated on whether to rate it a 4.75 or 5, but decided to round up because of how quickly it hooked me. I usually do not gravitate towards horror, but the dark fairytale-ish way this book incorporated it drew me in.

A lot of imagery in the book is beautiful, disturbing, and haunting all at once. Not enough to give me nightmares, but enough to linger with me. I wish we knew more about what happened after the end of the book, as there feels like some unanswered questions, however it feels complete enough to work as a standalone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Bullying, Drug use, and Alcohol

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