Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon

10 reviews

brookey8888's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

I really enjoyed this! Honestly it wasn’t as creepy as I thought it was going to be. It has an interesting premise that I wanted to find out what happened. I liked seeing how everything came together in the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Violence, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Child death, Grief, Kidnapping, and Murder

phantomgecko's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

A novel labeled "horror" that is actually horrifying. Kind of a slow burn horror in a lot of ways. When a story is told nonchronologically, there needs to be delicate unveiling of plot points to build tension well. This book does that well. What happens in the past gently (hauntingly) informs what happens in the future and vice versa.

The spookiness of the story is not a new idea, v Pet Sematary. But the inclusion of

Spoiler

a non-supernatural antagonist

is really delightful. Like, chef kiss. Also a fan of the dual but intertwined mysteries: how did Gertie die? And where's Alice?

Spoiler

Also, although a supernatural evil is heavily implied, I felt like it wasn't the only option. Martin going crazy was a strong possibility in my mind. Definitely one of the most tense bits for me was centered on the barn. I legit thought Martin had accidentally killed and skinned his daughter in a delusional state. Chilling.

Overall, I'd say the ending was frustrating, though. Ruthie deciding not to go to college? Bleh. Destroying the pages? Yeah! A certain someone going ahead and sharing all those pages anyway? C'mon, dude.

Frustrating ending, but it doesn't ruin the book for me. Delicious resolution before the frustrating bits.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Miscarriage, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, and Suicide

julienicole1106's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Child death, Grief, Gun violence, Infertility, Pregnancy, Self harm, Suicide, Cursing, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Confinement, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

michaelat21's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

The ending of this book sucked. I loved the book and was on the edge of my seat and then it just kinda ended in the most meh way and fell flat. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Child death

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, and Confinement

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Suicide, Violence, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

jjjreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Grief, Gore, Racism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Misogyny, Confinement, Stalking, Violence, Car accident, Classism, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Moderate: Alcoholism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

waytoomanybooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

2.5

A harrowing tale with many twists and turns, which keeps you interested and guessing. I was glued to the story up until the last third. I wasn't thrilled with the ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Blood, Death of parent, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Car accident, Animal death, and Cancer

katsbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

“If snow melts down to water, does it still remember being snow?”

“Madness is always a wonderful excuse, don’t you think? For doing terrible things to other people.”

“How can you dream if you don’t have a soul?”

This was a fun, spooky read. I've had this book on my shelf for literal years but definitely never realized it was a horror. I'm so glad I finally read it, though. I would not call myself a horror reader and this feels like a solid book for those just kind of getting into the horror genre. It was creepy and suspenseful without being overly gross or too "out there." I liked the multiple perspectives. It was easy to tell the difference between each POV and I was equally interested in all of the different characters we were following. I enjoyed the creepy feeling that the book gave me. I read a big chunk of this novel late in the evening and freaked myself out when I had to turn out the lights for bed time. I always find that to be a good sign in terms of general atmosphere. 

I'll try to not be too spoilery with the things I didn't like it but please read ahead with your own risk, especially if you're thinking of reading this book in the near future. My major gripe was that the only BIPOC character ended up being essentially a villain. She was very much the mystical Indian that only serves to further the character development of a white character. My other major question had to do with the teenaged character and how she came to live with her adoptive parents. The whole situation seemed like a major plot hole and didn't make sense to me. Personally, if I had been her aunt in the situation, I would not have let her adoptive parents take her given the traumatic events that led to her adoption. 

Overall, this was a solid mystery horror. It was fun and gave me creepy vibes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Mental illness, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, Death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

chellbear's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Mental illness, Blood, and Car accident

Minor: Cancer, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Body horror, and Abandonment

bookishjo's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I literally could not put this book down and finished reading it in less than 2 days. Creepy and weird but so interesting! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder, Violence, Gore, Death, Car accident, and Blood

Minor: Miscarriage

keenanmaree's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This was a really fun, spooky book that was almost half noir/half campfire ghost story. I absolutely loved the atmosphere of this book. Winter in Vermont was a lovely setting for such a creepy and sad story. 

The shifting narrative (shifting between timelines *and* shifting between characters) could have easily been awkward and overly complicated, but it was executed very smoothly, and the loose ends came together quite nicely for the most part. 

I have to say that the end was the weakest part for me. I wasn’t totally unhappy with it, but I really did hope for a resolution that would (spoilers here!!!) free Ruthie from the burden of babysitting a violent zombie child. Though her life on that farm sounded pretty idyllic and peaceful (for the most part...) so maybe it’s a decent trade off?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Forced institutionalization, and Grief

Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Kidnapping

Minor: Animal death and Sexism