Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor

10 reviews

killmoore_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

This had all the makings for a really great thriller, but man oh man did the ending fall flat for me. 

I was not impressed with the whodunit reveal. I feel like out of all the options we had, all the paths we were led down, this was by far the most disappointing outcome. **I was hoping for it to be our MC, ngl**. There were too many plot holes, and too many quick attempts to plug half of them with more confusion, and the whole plot could have been flushed out a lot more. 

However - The build up was thrilling, and it was a very fun read that kept me hooked from the beginning. A pretty graphic SA scene that I could have lived without, and the dog dies, but enjoyable none the less. I'd pick up more of Tudors work!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Dementia, Alcohol, Child death, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Sexual content, Grief, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, and Cursing

ashhoney's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

the chalk man is one of those books that are great to nake you shocked by how dark they are, but, it's definetely not an actually good book. some points of the story, such as

Spoiler

eddies' rape scene, the final scene in the asylum and all of the gore based scenes

were not really scary, just uncomfotable ro read. the main plot is overall very confusing and not very enjoyable. there are some points that are actually interesting, but most of the books feels like reading a stephen king book with all of the pages scrambled. overall, it's confusing, but, if you like thrillers, you might want to give it a try, it can be enjoyable when you like violent and shocking scenes.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Murder, and Abortion

Moderate: Suicide and Violence

Minor: Alcohol and Violence

arthur_pendrgn's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

 

I liked it and I didn't, so I'm settling on a three. Suspenseful, creepy, and thrilling--yes. Somewhat difficult to follow when tying all of the threads together & reminiscent of Stephen King--also yes.

 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Mental illness, and Gore

Minor: Animal cruelty, Dementia, Animal death, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

meeshell89's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Ahhh this book was great! So creepy and messed up! Loved all the twists and turns and I really liked the alternating chapters from past to present. Definitely gave me Stephen King’s “It” vibes. Love the tag line of the book- “everyone has secrets” .. oh yes, yes they do!!! So glad I picked this book up! Now I feel like re reading it to pick up on all the little clues scattered throughout. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Bullying, Death, Murder, and Rape

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Religious bigotry, Blood, Animal death, and Dementia

Minor: Car accident

theknitterwithabook's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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? No

4.5

To assume is to make an ass out of "u" and "me".

The novel travels back and forth between 2016 and 1986. It's time for those five friends to uncover the truth.

This was my first novel from C.J. Tudor and I am hooked! This is a thriller you hurry to finish because you have so many questions. I loved that the characters were flawed and they kept "assuming" who did what and who was the killer and then it's thrown in their face they are wrong.

It keeps you second guessing everything! I love theorizing about the ending throughout my reads and I am please to say that I was wrong all along. The author made me believe and avenue right until the end. AND THE ENDING! OMG! I would never have thought that!

It just came short of 5 stars as I feel that some loose ends needed fixing and we were left without answers. But overall, this was a great story! I gasped at some memories of the main character, I flipped through the pages faster than ever and couldn't put the book down.

Spoiler

If you've read the book, please tell me I'm not the only one who thought Eddie was sleep walking and might have killed Elisa during one of those episode. Even after Chloe left, when he wanders in the woods and awake in his bed with his pajamas full of dirt, I was convinced he had sleep walked and killed Chloe. Anyway! I'm glad it wasn't the case. But the head he kept in the end! Gross!! It's made clear that he steals rubbish from everyone, but a head!!! That was too far for me! hahaha!

 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Dementia, and Mental illness

Minor: Abortion

glut's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Child abuse

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Abortion

Minor: Suicide, Child abuse, Addiction, Mental illness, Pedophilia, and Death of parent

megpadams's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Lots of thoughts! 

Spoiler

• Wtf was that ending! I low key expected it because there were hints all the way through but it was so sudden! 
• I really wanted it to turn out to be supernatural 
• Still not entirely sure about the dreams- trauma or was Ed starting to show symptoms of dementia like his dad? 
• Did we ever find out who was murdered in the playground a few generations before?
• Was the traveller man at the fair actually the reverend? 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Alcoholism, Animal death, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Terminal illness

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This book was weird in the best way. The ending creeped me out but after having read the entire book, I couldn’t even be that shocked. The story illuminates how no matter how good we try to be or claim to be, we all do bad things and some of us do more heinous things than others.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Violence

witchycowboy's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

If you enjoyed the vibes of Stephen King's IT this book is perfect.
Following a group of kids and horrors that follow them, while also seeing how that effects their adult life. Also, there is an amazing pay off that will leave you uneasy.
This has quickly became one of my top five fav books. It's dark, dreadful and raw. It's all the right beats of a great horror, without any of the supernatural to pull away from the realness of the story.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Animal death, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Bullying, and Abortion

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Dementia, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

theblackswan's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Nenhum adulto pra olhar essas crianças fazendo merda e olha no que deu

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Car accident, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Violence