Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Giftig rök by Tiffany D. Jackson

44 reviews

pagesofplatypus's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Another knock-out from Tiffany D. Jackson! A haunted house horror that will have you thinking one it's going one way and then another and another.

Mari is a flawed protagonist, dealing with anxiety, obsession/trauma of bedbugs, and weed addiction. Nevertheless, she's still a character you root for as her house becomes more and more haunted. Once again you kind of want to slap the adults because they. do. not. listen!

So the annoying adults and the abrupt (in my eyes) ending are the only reasons I have for giving this a 4.75 instead of a full 5.

I read a good portion of this at night and would say it's on the creepy/eerie side rather than full-on scary, nor is it a gore fest. However, since Mari is absolutely terrified of bedbugs there are a lot of detailed descriptions of bed bugs so if you're squeamish about bugs as I am proceed with caution.

And one last thing for sensitive souls:

Breathe easy because the dog does live

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

hokulani_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

i was so blown away by the end. i guess i always am with jackson’s books. i think it tackles problems like corruption and the united states’ justice system very well.

 i thought at first it was more of a tame haunted house read but by the end i knew it was so much more.

i could appreciate how each character is written differently and they all had their own flaws. in the end it teaches a lesson of how everyone’s human, and forgiving and growing forward is important. also not being afraid to speak out.

something else i liked about the book was how mari’s “incident” was hinted towards and was slowly revealed towards the end of the book.
jun 25 2024

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Pedophilia and Rape

ems_book_shelf's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

this was an insane book in the best way. I had a really good time! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Bullying, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

mzgeee53's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Racism, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Vomit, and Car accident

rachiem's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Cursing and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Violence, and Blood

torihbu's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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

4.0

this was an action-packed thrill from start to finish. there were multiple plots going on at once (some more developed than others), but between all of it, i never got confused. i thought the gentrification subplot was a bit under-developed—there's only so much you can fit in 350ish words. but the main character's PTS/anxiety subplot and the main "haunting" of the book were extremely well-written, well-paced, and compelling. everything totals up to present the horrors of reality. just when you think you know what's going to happen next, you'll be surprised by this book!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, and Grief

Minor: Hate crime, Racism, Vomit, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

maresuju's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

fkshg8465's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

*********kind of spoiler *********




Upgrading to a four after some thought. It's a good allegory for racism in the US. Would be a good book to teach in high school, if I had it my way ;-)

Felt like I was reading a version of the Korean movie Parasite. But it was a lot less creepy.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

pages_with_panda's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

Minor: Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

abitbetterbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

3.0

This book is like, the definition of fine? It wasn’t bad, but I also didn’t love it. The premise was interesting and I do generally enjoy YA horror, so I did really like how creepy it was from the onset and the escalation of all of the scary and unnerving things to outright danger. 

I listened to the first 60% in audiobook and finished the rest in hardcopy which I definitely preferred, which meant I could skim a bit when the pacing was kind of weird, which it frequently was. The ending was so abrupt that if I hadn’t read reviews saying “what just happened??” I honestly would have thought I was missing a page in my copy. 

While Marigold was a very compelling protagonist and I was rooting for her (and her brother Sammy, who I adored!) I felt like the subject matter of the book, such as her struggles with addiction and substance use, did not match how juvenile the narration felt. I’m not sure if that was in part due to the audio narrator that I didn’t love, but some editorial choices just didn’t really match up for me. 

All in all, not a bad way to spend a few days in October when you’re in the mood for something creepy, but I wouldn’t say it’s a must-read. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Violence and Blood

Minor: Pedophilia

Pedophelia mention (past false accusations)