Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

29 reviews

the_true_monroe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I absolutely did not predict where this book was going. While I was very confused initially about what was real and not real, that confusion I had actually made a lot of sense as the book went on. While historical dates are noted, the present year is never stated. The timelessness this creates is haunting given major themes in the book surround the injustices and horrors faced by marginalized communities that never cease to end (racism, homophobia, genocide), since the driving forces are never held accountable regardless of how many times they are exposed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Rape, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Infertility, and Terminal illness

redtailedhawk90's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

Sorrowland is a science-fiction novel about a child raised in a cult who, pregnant with her cult-leader's children, runs away from the compound that has been her entire life. She raised her kids in the woods for years before changes to her body (NOT of the normal variety) force her to seek outside help. All the way, she is stalked and manipulated by a Fiend who wants to drag her back to the compound.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, and Blood

autumnalis's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

nonidude's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child death, Drug use, Genocide, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol

bruisedtigers's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I enjoyed this a lot! This developed really well for 3/4 of the story, but the conclusion felt sadly rushed in comparison, which is a shame because it flows so well beforehand. 

Some dialogue with side/supporting characters is very heavy-handed for making a statement, which is all very well, but feels unbalanced compared to the more eloquent writing of similar issues in other sections of the book. Unfortunately, it sticks out in an odd way. 

The character work is great and I always admire well-written child characters in fiction. So much of this gets under the skin and lurks in an eerie way. Unique with its horror elements and very haunting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

I have never read a book like this. I have been wanting to get into more eerie books and this totally scratched that itch for me. If you are a fan of spooky but not horror this is definitely for you. There is a lot of gore and body horror stuff that left me thoroughly unsettled. It reminded me of “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka. The whole story was dark and brooding with little flecks of hope and the writing made the characters and setting come to life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Infertility, Misogyny, Racism, Suicide, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, and Cannibalism

mixtercharlie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This is a wonderful book that I would encourage everyone to read in small parts. It deserves to be enjoyed slowly. There is violence but the violence is paramount to the story, even when it’s visceral and upsetting. A book I could read again and again and always take away something new. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

razzberry_pi'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

4.75

started out a bit slower abd a tad confusing, but definitely picked up in enjoyment after

Vern meets Bridget and Gogo and they start figuring stuff out

usually i can guess where book twists are going to be, but this one suprised me while still making sense.

definitely head the content warnings on this one as a lot of the topics are quite heavy, but the topics were handled with care in a purposeful way, not just trauma porn

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Homophobia, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Racial slurs, Racism, Police brutality, and Colonisation

lpdx's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer and Medical content

cookiecat73's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

4.5

This was a very raw, very honest book that absolutley did not shy away from tough topics. I loved the characters. The first 3/4 were amazing, but unfortunately the last quarter of the book went in a direction that was much less of my thing and I enjoyed it a lot less. Overall though, very good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, and Colonisation

Minor: Racial slurs, Slavery, and Excrement