lilias's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The first 50 or so pages of this book just seemed full of misplaced whimsy and weirdness. I don’t like it when something, a book or a film, goes out of its way to be weird just for the sake of being weird. But nothing grabs my attention like a mystery. And when little reveals started to peel away the silly veneer that was, when it came down to it, author Catronia Ward speaking in (infuriating) riddles, I was hooked. I wish I had been so invested in the entire book, but, still, this was a really good reading experience for me, overall.
Graphic: Death of parent, Torture, Confinement, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Fatphobia, Suicide, Death of parent, and Self harm
killmoore_'s review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
Best book I have read all year, and in the top 5 for all time. I cannot express how much I loved this book.
It will make you feel all the things, drop you on your skull and do it all over again. 10/10 will be recommending to anyone who enjoys the genre.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Stalking, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Torture
suchsweetsorrow89's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Spoiler
the one thing i really want to flag for those who have read the book is that i think ward put so much time into researching the effects of DID in ways that must be praised and celebrated. she took so much care into not making this one of those classic horror stories that come off offensive to actually craft a narrative that everyone can relate to at it's basic level: though we all seemingly strive for the good, sometimes the path of memory, acceptance, and forgiveness does not look linear for all, and that sometimes the very key to forgive ourselves and begin to live life and survive again looks like doing just that again and again and learning to celebrate and be angry at sometimes and just lean in. and that is perhaps the most beautiful message to put in a horror book especially.as an avid nerd of the classics and dabbles into what defines the monstrous, this book borrows from so much of these classic authors and hallmark texts and really extracts the themes that make them work (i.e. religion, alienation, body horror, gender constructions, growing up, sexuality, the transcendental spaces of the woods and water, even down to the classic 'haunted house' trope, and so much more) while also developing an entirely unique product in the end that makes me happy i decided to pick up this horror book (as someone who doesn't really read horror) and makes me even more excited to see both what ward and other contemporary horror writers will do in the future. highly recommend!
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Death, Child death, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Trafficking, Torture, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Violence, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Medical content, Gore, Domestic abuse, and Grief
Moderate: Body shaming
Spoiler
suicide and suicide attemptlinlinlin's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Spoiler
I have a loved one with DID so I was FURIOUS at the plot twist, ra ra I'm so sick of horror writers depicting mentally ill people as serial killers and villains etc when they're subject to so much violence. I'm really glad I stuck with it. My loved one didn't read it so I don't know what the DID perspective on it is, but I was really pleasantly surprised by the happy ending for Ted and the efforts to depict DID reasonably and accurately by Ward. A lot of the contents around DID was stuff I already knew but worth reading if you don't.Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, and Torture
Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, and Body shaming
Minor: Homophobia and Suicide attempt
The content warnings are gnarly but there's a lot of context for most of the worst of it that ameliorates itchloseencounter's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Body shaming, Death of parent, Mental illness, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Dysphoria, and Violence
aardwyrm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Classism, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Murder, Self harm, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Ableism, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Animal death, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
themaddbeanie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.5
Spoiler
Readers will be like, "What a crazy twist!" when the author lies to you for 250 pages and then decides to tell you the truth at the end.Yeah, someone's mental illness is not your horror story. You can't just steal a real disorder and turn it into a "freak show" for others to gawk at. Disrespectful
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Torture, Abandonment, Child abuse, Grief, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Addiction, Medical content, Confinement, Death, Animal cruelty, Child death, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Gore, and Grief
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Body horror, and Vomit
I feel like this could potentially be very upsetting for people with certain mental illnesses or those who have experienced abuse.kjm_x's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Physical abuse
mommarex1221's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
I knew from the first few chapters that what Ward had created was masterfully written, even if I questioned what exactly it was that I was reading. This book will stick with me.
Triggers galore. Explore at your own risk, some may be considered spoilers.
Graphic: Death of parent, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Murder, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Violence, Alcohol, Body shaming, Child death, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Death, Grief, Self harm, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse
unphilosophize's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
I will never like a book that uses mental illness as a plot point.
A lot of folks talked about how they liked the afterward, and while I agree that it was an important thing to add it was poorly executed. I did not feel that her explanation really did justice to the diagnosis that she chose to exploit in her book, nor did it really talk about the controversy around that diagnosis in a good way.
Overall extremely disappointing.
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, and Kidnapping