Reviews tagging 'Torture'

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

6 reviews

tideray's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

1.0

The author has written a story that criticises the ghost possession genre of horror stories highlighting the dramatisation and pervasive sensationalism of the characters evident psychosis symptoms, using the interesting mixed perspective of a child and their grown-up recollection and reflection on the events.

Unfortunately

the book is written in a way that tried heavily to imply that the potential for the character to be haunted is an genuine potential, creating a gross dialectical of the author having his cake (criticising possession stories) and eating it too (the character being haunted)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Torture, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

daniellecherny's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Minor: Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood

Ending is left open/ambiguous. If you need a clear ending that explains exactly what happened, don't read this book.

simp4sneks's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

onemamareads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Read my full review here:  https://onemamassummer.weebly.com/book-reviews/a-head-full-of-ghosts 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

readbycarina's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Torture, Blood, Vomit, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Mental illness and Suicide attempt

karamelka_kar19's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

2.5

There were a lot of happy and crappy moments. First of all, the bad ones.

In the parts when the interview for the upcoming book was conducted, it was hard to keep up with two women speaking, the ages especially. The blog thing? A a waste of space. A little things, but still they're matter.

What angered me most was the amount of  POV, but not the possessed one. In this sense it is classic, right? They were witnesses, alright, but the story is not about them at all.This poor girl lived and suffered her parents and everyone else treating her like the way the did so we can hear how sad everyone around her is for her? Let the survivor tell their own story, god dammit.

That's to say, the book itself is aware of the situations, it's really clear it was the intention. 

The most solid part was the sister relationship between the two main characters. They deeply cared about each other and it was the most heartbreaking and beautiful thing I've ever seen. 

The book doesn't have a full "what happened" line straight, you always kept in a shadow of what's real and what's not. It reminded me of The cabin at the end of the world by the same author though I'm not saying that it's for the same group of people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Torture, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying