Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Ruins by Scott Smith

16 reviews

gellyreads's review

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-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

3.0

I am so conflicted about this book. It is genuinely scary and gross, but the characters are so bland, boring, and just terrible people. And I know they’re all terrible ish, but the portrayal of the women also just rubbed me the wrong way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Infidelity, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Gore

gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Horror Summer Camp Book Club / June Pick

The Details:
Narrated by Patrick Wilson
Unabridged 

I really wanted to take part in this group read so for the first time, I purchased more credits!

This was a fun read. Once we got into the meat of the horror, it had me in mind of the Day of the Triffids. I think I'd be interested in reading more plant based horror.

The body horror was quite grim (in a good way), but I didn't find that it made my stomach turn or had me feeling nauseated.

There were no distinct chapters, which made it hard to pause but helped to amplify the blurred lines of time as terror set in for the characters.

The characters themselves weren't very likeable but felt believable for the most part, though some feeling more 2D (or more caricatures of a person) than others. I think my favourites were Matthias and Pablo.

I don't think this will be a strong story that would be very memorable long term, for me, but it was fun for whilst I was listening, I'd recommend it to others and I'd be interested in giving the movie adaptation a go.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Torture, Death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Gore, Gaslighting, Excrement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Confinement, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Suicide, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Grief, Cannibalism, Body horror, and Abandonment

Minor: Cannibalism

mblanke's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Body horror, and Gore

Minor: Cannibalism, Toxic relationship, and Grief

traa's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Body horror, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Death, Medical content, Alcohol, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Cannibalism, Excrement, Gun violence, and Vomit

Minor: Rape, Drug use, Sexual content, and Racism

kdrupp's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Loved the concept for the plot. Realized half way through that this was going to be a more character driven story than it is a mystery about what is actually going on, as the majority of the story is about how these 6 characters interact with eachother during a life or death survival situation.

Spoiler

I did like how it's never revealed what the plant is or how it got there, leaving the audience to assume it's something that's always been here, spreading its malice to whoever happens to step foot in it's home.

The main thing that dropped the rating for me is how the two female characters are written - they're written with no personality to the point that the only distinguishing factor between them is that one of them is more promiscuous. This was a huge turnoff for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Alcohol, Cursing, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Body horror, and Blood

Minor: Cannibalism

kermit_the_wrong's review

dark tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Gore, Alcohol, Body horror, Death, Excrement, Blood, Cursing, Infidelity, and Self harm

Moderate: Cannibalism

seanml's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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

4.0

Things just get worse and worse and worse. Smith's prose is simple enough to rope you in, but there is always a morbid undertone to everything. The simple and blunt descriptions of extreme horrors and mutilations make them feel even more sinister. If you want something that feels completely hopeless, try the Ruins. 8/10.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Self harm, Vomit, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol and Suicide

Minor: Cannibalism and Excrement

vgoosev's review

dark sad 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Body horror, Death, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Suicide

hexenlibrarian's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Body horror, Excrement, Death, Blood, Gore, Self harm, Vomit, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Confinement, and Grief

ten_telegrams's review

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Cannibalism, Confinement, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide, Violence, Gore, Alcohol, Blood, and Vomit