Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Bird Box - Schließe deine Augen by Josh Malerman

29 reviews

kbc_dino's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.75

I devoured this in one sitting. The switch between past and present kept you on your toes. I wish it had been drawn out a touch more so we could get better acquainted with the characters, but it works as is. 
I love the movie as well!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Violence

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

sebwayne84's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Cannibalism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy

mermaidsherbet's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy

Moderate: Gore and Abandonment

lorie336's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

5.0

I do love dystopia tales and this did not disappoint. I like how this tale goes back and forth with present and past, it was a page turner. Malorie, unexpectedly becomes pregnant, as the world basically goes to hell. People are going mad at the sight of creatures, from where, we are not sure, could be aliens, many theories to these creatures that the author lets us use our imagination which depending on one's imagination can make it that more creepier and scarier. 

We read on how Malorie comes to the house she is now alone in with her two children, how she decided to journey onto the river, and what happened to the fate of her housemates, how she cared and trained her children to be able to hear better than any human can now. The trials and tribulations Malorie endured was a testament to her inner strength, as a mother, and a survivor in a world where being able to see can get you killed. As a mom this is a harrowing tale, but to go through pregnant just made it even scarier because knowing the feeling of carrying life and delivering two (not at the same time), it can be rough even with today's technology, but having to do that like our ancestors that's always something worrisome because anything can go wrong. 

I am looking forward to reading the sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Animal death and Murder

Minor: Child death and Grief

cmhartjes's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child death, Blood, Vomit, and Pregnancy

judereadsalot's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Pregnancy

kitten_nuisance's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I reread this book in 2023 because I wanted to anyway, and to confirm that I actually liked Malorie better.  I did like Malorie better!  Though Bird Box is still a creepy and enjoyable read.  

Note for people who know me, there are some subjects in here that I typically don’t enjoy consuming in media, including harm to animals and mental health conditions as a threat to the main characters.  If you don’t enjoy those things either, you may want to overlook my endorsement.  It was a level I could tolerate in a book I found compelling and well written, though the animal thing in particular was upsetting.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror

v171's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

 I don't often read suspense/horror books because I'm not a huge fan of extreme violence/gore, and while this book did include an amount of that, I did enjoy it. As opposed to some other reviews I've read, I really appreciated, the fact that the creatures are never revealed to the reader. It was evident that the creatures took a back seat to the common zombie/dystopia/horror trope of "man is the real monster," and that theme was emphasized by not distracting with the nature of the cosmic horror. In fact, I found the scenes with Gary far more tense and suspenseful than, say, the bar scene or the river scenes. It would have been easy for the author to acquiesce the readers by throwing in an Annihilation-esque reveal, but I applaud him for holding back. While the book wasn't anything groundbreaking with regard to apocalyptical horror, I found it an enjoyable read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Excrement and Vomit