Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Still Beating by Jennifer Hartmann

18 reviews

bekahzabel's review against another edition

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I ate this one up. Very dark, taboo topics, trigger heavy but wowza… I was hooked. Devoured in one sitting. Not a situation to idolize in real life but an absolutely heart wrenching plot that keeps you needing more from start to finish.

4⭐️ / 🌶️🌶️🌶️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder

tht1ginger's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Miscarriage and Suicide attempt

blumerlamotte's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Heart wrenching, intense, dark, complicated. Check the trigger warnings. They’re no joke. This novel is NOT for the faint of heart.

Folks seem to either love or hate this novel. I swear reviewers either give it 5 stars or 1 star. I’m really torn. Unsure how I feel about it. It started so strong (but extremely hard to read) and from there… the character development was convoluted and messy and erratic. I think that follows with the excessive trauma the characters had to deal with. For me I think it just felt a little too contrived and not quite authentic enough. 

It’s a good book with awful topics. The authors writing style is smooth and easy to follow. Something about it just left me wanting but I don’t know what I want …

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Pregnancy

katherineguild35's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

allieraj's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

klsreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexism, and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal cruelty, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent

reddeddy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Incest, Misogyny, Medical content, Car accident, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Dysphoria

sardonicdeath's review against another edition

Note: this book does not have listed trigger warnings.

I could not bring myself to finish this.
I tried. 

The writing was not great and I couldn’t bring myself to form a connection to the characters. Also goes from 0-100 within the first 20 or so pages. 

The situation seemed off as well as the main characters actions/reactions to the situation both during and after. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

Minor: Animal death, Gore, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Pregnancy

emilyreadstoomuch's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

2.25

very unique book, but it tried too hard and also was somehow not enough at the same time. don't know why when they were screaming at the abductor, of all the horrible things he did that they could've thrown in his face they just kept calling him fat?? they were like "you are FAT" like why not murderer, rapist, creep, etc.????? so insane. also it was just annoying at parts where cora was soooo not like other girls and mandy was villainized for no reason at times lmao mandy was a really terrible person though. this had a TON of potential like i could see the vision so clearly but was honestly underdeveloped. very fake deep!!!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

juliereadsromance's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

Ok, this was my journey through this book:

First 25%: shoot it in my veins, I’ve never felt so alive. 
Second 25%: still buzzed
Third 25%: I’m dragging. The novel is now just sad which is appropriate for the plot. But, the come down from the adrenaline of the first half is a bummer. 
Fourth 25%: I’m glad I’m getting to see the HEA, but I’m also happy I’m done with the book. 

This was a five star read for many readers I follow here on GR, so it seems like a lot of other readers didn’t find that the second half of the book slowed down too much. 

Importantly, this book gives a meaningful portrayal of PTSD and the characters’ challenging recovery from trauma. 

I thought that the FMC’s parents and sister didn’t seem to understand the gravity of the sexual abuse Cora endured. And that was weird.  

There are ALOT of potential triggers in this book, so def check the author’s warnings before!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Pregnancy