Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Sour Candy by Kealan Patrick Burke

13 reviews

nexusgoblin's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

For an impulse borrow this turned out be exactly the kind of thing I really enjoy. I normally prefer my stories in this vein to contain a slow descent but the way this is presented and paced was absolutely perfect for a novella this size. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, and Alcohol

Moderate: Car accident and Fire/Fire injury

darlingkelly's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

One of the most on-the-nose examples of a man’s greatest horror being a woman’s everyday reality. Well told, well executed.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Pregnancy and Fire/Fire injury

g_xandra'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? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Body horror, Blood, and Car accident

Minor: Suicide and Alcohol

itsjustgrumpy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Awesome little short story about a devil child. Surprisingly emotional and poignant too. Thank god I don't want kids.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Grief, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer

julessssss's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

1.0

this really didn't work for me - it felt really cliche and the writing itself at times was annoying to me (almost like parts were supposed to be humorous, but I didn't think they were)

the story probably could have used more page space to its benefit because all of the characters fell flat for me

also the section at the end about the detective's daughter?? there was no need for it and I am SICK of men writing random scenes about women (HIS DAUGHTER) doing sexual things for no reason

I think I may try another one of his works, especially because it seems like others like his stuff

overall, I was disappointed (thanks BookTok) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Suicide, Blood, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Pregnancy

franzys_whip's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Eating disorder, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Pregnancy

teaselkie's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Car accident

Moderate: Suicide, Blood, and Alcohol

Minor: Domestic abuse

vivireads99's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

I really liked this! I think it was good for a short novella. I would have loved to see some of the concepts fleshed out a bit more!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Alcohol

winterdevil's review against another edition

dark funny tense fast-paced

5.0

A horror novella about a man named Phil who comes across a kid throwing a temper tantrum in a Walmart. The kid offers him a piece of sour candy, and he takes it to be polite, and next thing you know that kid is in his house, calling him daddy. His entire past and present have been rewritten so that everything points to him having a kid he KNOWS he doesn't have.

Also, the kid is creepy as hell, and Phil becomes a prisoner in his new life.

I suspected this book would be fire from the beginning, and I'm glad to say it exceeded expectations. It has a creepy child, eldritch beings, body horror (cw if you have a thing about teeth falling out), and such impressive, palpable tension packed into just 107 pages. Definitely will read more from this author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

babydog420's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Child death

Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Car accident and Alcohol