Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Beholder by Ryan La Sala

22 reviews

bookaddictlt's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Violence

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

mycarefulcardinal's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

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

raptorq's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Kidnapping

beastybugs's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Gore, Dementia, and Fire/Fire injury

meminger's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

ryan la sala loves three things: gay people, surreal body horror transformations, and

gay people undergoing a surreal body horror transformation to save the people they love

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

i think arachnophobia should be a content tag on here because this book is a goldmine for it

cactuspunk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

caseythereader's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

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