Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

What Stalks Among Us by Sarah Hollowell

8 reviews

keenanmaree's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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

Such a weird, wonderful, beautiful book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Blood, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

caterina_1212's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

Cool idea, but I kinda had to push myself to finish it. On the other hand, very easy to read on public transport, short chapters and easy to follow.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

imstephtacular's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

What a TRIP! This was so compelling and weird and I had to keep reading to figure out wtf was happening

I really appreciated how it approached teen dating violence in an approachable and age appropriate way 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Misogyny, Grief, Medical content, Sexism, and Gun violence

Minor: Classism, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Cursing, Racism, Abandonment, Animal death, Body shaming, Biphobia, Bullying, Confinement, Fatphobia, Domestic abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders

elizabethwebb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Death, Violence, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Self harm, Gore, and Gun violence

lesbiantoad's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, Violence, and Domestic abuse

tiff_taff's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

What Stalks Among Us captivated me from the beginning! Sadie and Logan’s friendship kept me invested and the progression of it warmed my heart.

Spoiler

Sadie’s journey to identifying the abuse she endured with her former partner was challenging for me. It reminded me of old trauma I thought I had moved past. I love that Logan named the abuse while giving Sadie space to come to terms with it. I saw myself in Sadie. It is soul crushing to have a person you trust and love tell you that no one else will love you the way they do. It’s even harder to find the courage leave a relationship like that while fighting a voice that says,  “Maybe they’re right?”

All this to say that this book is without a doubt my book of the year. Sarah tackled trauma and neurodivergence with alarming accuracy and care. One last note,

Spoiler

the heckin wimdy line had me laughing out loud

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gun violence, Death, Murder, Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Blood, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm

Moderate: Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Domestic abuse, and Misogyny

Minor: Fatphobia and Biphobia

coatpocketcreature's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Body horror, Gore, Blood, and Self harm

l1ndz7's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-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? Yes

3.75

I liked this book a lot for what it was, a YA horror novel. The main characters, Sadie and Logan, are a great example of a good friendship looks like. They are so supportive, empathetic and they never give up on each other. They both get trapped in this crazy corn maze that is a mixture of something you would see in a horror movie and/or video game. They both make a lot of references to this throughout the story, which can seem repetitive, but serves as a way for them to process their situation and strategize how to get out. There are time loops, restarts, and a wide variety of rooms throughout the corn maze that poor Sadie and Logan have to navigate together with corn monsters, a sheep skeleton, and Helena trying to kill them. 

After we were introduced to Helena, I couldn't get the MCR song called "Helena" out of my mind hahaha. I also may have pictured Helena in the story as the one featured in the MCR music video hehe IYKYK. I noticed a lot of parallels between the song and this story in regards to both Helenas. 

I loved the representation in this book. Sadie is a plus-sized, neurodivergent, queer FMC and Logan was her amazing, also neurodivergent, best friend! The story is told only from Sadie's POV and I think it would have added to the story if the author had a POV from Logan as well. He was with her the entire time and whenever they would have to restart, they couldn't without each other. "There is no Logan without Sadie. There is no Sadie without Logan."

The ending felt rushed to me and didn't provide answers about the maze in the same depth that the author went into with everything else in the story. That seems to be a common occurence in endings though but I might be in the minority here in thinking so. Overall, I did like this and thought the premise was original and interesting. Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, and Emotional abuse