Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrew

14 reviews

stardustandrockets's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Child death, Gore, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Minor: Vomit and Pregnancy

sinkitten's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

Honestly this book exceeded my expectations. It was dark, thrilling, mysterious, and slightly confusing at times, but in the right ways. 
I wasn't really sure what to expect going in and I'm glad I didn't have anything spoilt. 
The mood and the way the story was revealed reminded me somewhat of "House of Hollow" which I also really loved. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Car accident and Fire/Fire injury

booksthatburn's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

Delaney is a post-lingual Deaf girl who sometimes hears the shadows whispering. She gets into a university whose stated purpose is to teach its students to traverse between realities. Colton is a student who briefly died when he was a child, meeting Delaney briefly at the time. When they meet again on campus, she doesn’t recognize him but is drawn to him anyway, while he instantly knows her and can’t keep his distance. They begin spending time together, then the lines are blurred further when another student dies.

There’s a consistent theme of ableism, mainly but not only from professors who don’t know Delaney is deaf (because they didn’t read the emails alerting them). She’s navigating this new space and deciding how much she’d rather deal with not being able to usefully hear in the moment or with overt ableism once people know she’s deaf. Whether she’s using her implant and what she does or does not hear is important throughout, and is used to great effect once things start getting spooky.

The worldbuilding is sparse, most of the details are atmospheric and unexplained until late in the book. The specific answers and explanations (when they finally arrived) wrapped up pretty much everything I wanted to know. I enjoy vibe-heavy books that leave me interested but confused for long stretches, so this was a deeply satisfying read for me. Colton’s secrets (and those he keeps for others) are hinted at but not revealed early, keeping the reader and Delaney equally in the dark for much of the story. 

For a book with parallel worlds there aren’t many descriptions of traversals, though there are more towards the end. I like how much the focus is on Delaney piecing things together and trying to make it through her classes, and on her dynamic with Colton. I often enjoy books with mysterious and brooding guys, and this delivered. 

Heavy on vibes, supported by a delicate but satisfying plot, don’t miss THE WHISPERING DARK.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Drug use, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Dementia, and Pregnancy

soniajoy98's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Medical content, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Car accident and Classism