Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Ordinary Monsters by J.M. Miro

13 reviews

colorwired's review against another edition

This book has an interesting premise but it moves so slowly that I found myself questioning whether I really liked it or not. 
I was also very thrown off by The Boy That Lived trope that becomes glaringly present in the first quarter. 
There are definitely parts that are dark and scary, but I somehow felt confined even though the story skips around the globe.
I didn’t finish this book because I didn’t want to do the work to plug through everything to get to the point. 
I was very disappointed because I was initially very excited about this book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Trafficking

mpbookreviews's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

anns_storybound_sanctuary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

I love this book. Another 5/5 this year.

What impressed me the most was the story telling, the world building, the characters and how the author achieved it to give every character their own voice. The diction, punctuation and grammar is different for every character which gives them even more depth. 

The prose is also just gorgeous. The way J. M. Mirow describes each scene, setting the mood before diving into the action. This for me makes the storytelling even more immersive

The story itself is set mostly in Vicotrian England, at the end of the 17th century. This gives this book a dark academia feeling even though half of the cast of characters is under the age of 18. The story is written in a lot of different POVs which contribute to the immersion. 

I wouldn't rate this book as a YA novel as which it was marketed here. There is a lot of violence and loss in this book. Which I as an adult reader appreciated but is not fit for children. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Torture, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, and Death of parent

torie444's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Self harm, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Abandonment

catch__up's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Miscarriage, Racism, Self harm, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

kittens_eating_aliens's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Murder

Minor: Death of parent and Abandonment

jhbandcats'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

5.0

I really loved this book. It reminded me of lots of other books but it’s its own creature. It’s got the feel of Addie LaRue and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, and it’s got talented kids and a special school like X-Men. 

By the end we’re following at least three storylines, all about a great evil that’s going to release the dead into our world and the forces of good that are fighting to keep that from happening. The children are unusual - one has a separate flesh giant that smells of rotting meat but the rest are more appealing - and the monsters are indeed monstrous. 

I’m delighted to report that there’s a hero cat. I’d have given this five stars even if there weren’t a hero cat, but the hero cat puts this firmly in the ten-star category. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

clarabooksit's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Colonisation

katieo156's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-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

3.5

I enjoyed the story, but this could easily have been two books. There was such a long arc to get to the central setting that I was wearing thin on patience. I'm glad I kept going- I did like the characters and their grit, but I wish we had learned more about the magic and mythology of the book. It was vaguely alluded to and then kind of info dumped, but I feel like there's more left to learn that didn't need to be kept hidden for a sequel. I wondered the whole time if

everyone's instant intense love for Marlowe was part of his powers because it was mentioned so frequently and so soon after anyone met him- guess not.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Cannibalism, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

unboxedjack's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship