Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

What Stalks Among Us by Sarah Hollowell

14 reviews

blewballoon's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Excellent! Spooky teen corn maze book! The power of friendship! Wow, I really enjoyed this. The audiobook narrator does seem to over-enunciate the dialogue and their range of voices was limited, but I was still quite immersed in the story. It was tense, mysterious, spooky, and funny in a balanced way. I appreciated the way it approached subjects like toxic relationships, neurodiversity, and fat phobia. The best part of the book for me was the pure friendship between Sadie and Logan.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Biphobia, Fatphobia, and Misogyny

sshabein's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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

Absolutely LOVED this. I'm not a regular reader of YA — not for any snobby reasons; it's just not where my attention usually takes me — but I'd read and enjoyed Sarah Hollowell's previous book (A Dark And Starless Forest), so I knew I was in for a good time. Well... a tense time! 

And WOW does Hollowell keep up the tension! Two high school seniors encounter a mysterious corn maze in springtime Indiana and soon find themselves trapped, unsure of the new rules for their environment, and also... is that a dead body that looks just like one of them? What a beginning! 

The story also deals with the lingering effects of emotional abuse and other toxic relationships in a way that intertwines with their current circumstances, but never feels predictable or cliché. I genuinely did not know how the story would shake out until the main characters did. I also very much appreciated that the main characters are just friends. No shoehorned romance here! There's too much to deal with!

If you enjoy psychological horror with characters who feel very true to life, do pick this up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Blood

Moderate: Gun violence

sierrabowers's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

This was a very cool but also very confusing read. It was like Maze Runner met Children of the Corn. If you like fantasy, thrillers, and time traveling, this could be the book for you! It also includes LGBTQ+ characters but that isn’t their entire personality which I think is nice. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

ezwolf's review

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective slow-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

4.5

This is 10/10 fat girl rep, I have hardly ever felt as seen as a fat person as I have when reading this book. And I will now immediately go read this author's other books. 

It was surprisingly funny! One moment it's creepy as all get out and then I'm laughing at a Supernatural joke. Which is another thing that was surprising, usually I find pop culture references annoying and unnecessary, but that wasn't the case with this book. 

The only reason this doesn't get five stars from me is because it kind of dragged a bit at the end, but everything else was fantastic! 

Also the title's play on words is hilarious!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Biphobia, Cursing, Misogyny, Self harm, and Dysphoria

Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Infidelity, and Car accident

abbeyreads13'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

3.0

I wanted to love this, but it was a little too long and repetitive. I fear the author didn’t trust the reader would pick up on what was happening, it was a lot of telling. Ultimately can’t deny it was hard to get through for me. Read on audio 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Self harm

Moderate: Fatphobia and Homophobia

aceofknaves88's review

dark emotional hopeful 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: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, and Blood

suzanna_gg's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful reflective slow-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

4.0

Really interesting metaphor for trauma and abusive (romantic) relationships

I get the complaints on this book. Sure, it’s repetitive at times, but that’s how the brain works. You have triggers and symbols and loops and you ride the wave and you survive. Things change and you move on. You choose the next door, and you make an exit

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Content Warnings

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

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

dananana's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, and Toxic friendship

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

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

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