Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Beholder by Ryan La Sala

8 reviews

yoursisterscanary'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I didn’t love this book but did appreciate that the horror concepts were very original.  I read this for a queer book club so obviously I enjoyed that the main characters were lgbtq+.  Unfortunately,  the romance felt shoveled in.  The interactions felt very authentic which was refreshing in a genre where queer characters tend to be written by white cishet women.  It was a little hard to believe the interactions were of teenagers and not older men though.  Such confidence! 

The author seemed to be making some veiled points about internalized homophobia and shame.  He touches on what amounted to Authenticity Theory, exploring if we are who we think we are or does the self lie in the eyes of others.  Can an authentic self exist without acknowledgement of others.  As a gender queer person this concept cuts me deep.  There is no true physical expression of something society does not acknowledge other than a few forms of expressions that box you in.  The main character seemed to be playing with this concept with fem expression with makeup.  I wish this had been developed more but maybe that’s a lot to ask from a YA book.

I hope this author writes more horror with deeper developed magical systems featuring queer characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Child death

directorpurry's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Sexual assault, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child death and Vomit

nicolemast's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

If suicide is a big trigger for you, you’ll probably want to avoid this book.

scytheria's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gun violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Vomit

booksthatburn's review

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

cboddie's review

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.25

HS & up

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

greyhuigris's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide

jazhandz's review against another edition

dark 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Sexual assault, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Sexual content

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