Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

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6 reviews

throwback682's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Usually if I finish a book and don’t know how I feel about it, scrolling through other people’s reviews helps me process and solidify my feelings. Not this time. I’m still really on the fence. It definitely seems like a love it or hate it book but somehow I just don’t feel either. I didn’t find it horribly predictable nor breathtakingly shocking. Some twists I guessed, some I didn’t. It did have some of my least favorite horror tropes -

bad guy with a facial difference,

mentally ill murderer,

random sexual assault thrown in.

But it kept me very interested, that’s for sure. I don’t know. Very mixed feelings. Sometimes I thought it was going to be a five star, but then… it wasn’t. I liked the epilogue better than the final chapter. Should you read it? Solid maybe. Shrug. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal death, Fatphobia, Infidelity, and Pregnancy

Casual usage of a slur for Romani people, as a synonym for “shortchanged”

zabeth1021's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

2.0

A grotesque, sometimes overly-detailed book that the main character is silly and gruesome. The end “scene” plays out for entirely too long, and large swaths of the book require suspending belief that anyone is competent or has morals.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

_alyssabrown's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

sunny27's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Fatphobia

barefootbetsy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

lilifane's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I'm very, very picky when it comes to Horror books. 
I like it when the Horror is a little bit more subtle, when the focus is on a character study, when your imagination scares you more than what's actually on page, when you don't know if the explanation is supernatural or not. And I think this book does this beautifully for the most part. 

So, 25 years ago, a man murdered his whole family and only the 18 months old daughter survived. She was raised by her aunt and in the present she is in a serious relationship and in search for a house to move into with her boyfriend. That's when she discovers her old family home is up for sale. So she moves in to reconnect to the part of her life, she can't really remember, but that's haunted her all her life. From then on, spooky things start to happen, while she also discovers that what she knew about the tragedy of the past, might not be the whole story. 

I loved Dixie's narrative voice. She's not always the most likable character, in fact she makes some questionable decisions. But I still couldn't help but root for her. The humor is amazing. The choice of words, the word plays, I loved it. At the same time, the spooky scenes are actually spooky. I think the author does a great job of creating the mysterious and creepy atmosphere of a haunted murder house without making it too over the top. And the way Dixie describes her fears is SO relatable. I've never read from a point of view that described so well how I feel when I'm alone after watching/reading something spooky. Intrusive thoughts that one is not alone, while at the same time making fun of oneself for having these thoughts. I loved this!
There are some scenes that have a little too much violence, blood and gore for my usual taste, but somehow those worked really well for me here. I also like that there is a mystery aspect to the story, even if it's pretty obvious. I still think it's crafted well and you kind of start to question everything the more unhinged the protagonist gets, to be honest. 

Towards the end there were a little too many things happening all at once, so you couldn't really appreciate most of them, especially some of the more emotional revelations that were just glossed over. And I didn't like the showdown, I think it was too long. I liked the ending, though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail