Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

A Dark and Hollow Star – Nichts ist gefährlicher als ein Märchen by Ashley Shuttleworth

18 reviews

mirandavictoria's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This book was incredible! The plot was gripping, the characters were loveable, and the magic system was immensely  intriguing. I loved reading a book set in Toronto, as it provided a unique reading experience for me, as someone who lives near there. The pop culture references were witty and very well done - something that can be hard to do, as they can get cheesy. The LGBTQ+ and mental health rep was also very well done and refreshing to see. Overall, a magically enjoyable read!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder

thecourtofreading's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-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

4.5

"heroes went through so much hardship. heroes were the stuff of tragedies." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Gore, and Blood

Minor: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Racism

alibader's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.25

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year which is what makes this especially disappointing. The plot and pacing were all over the place, it felt as though the story didn't really start until 300 pages in and the beginning was very slow. The ending felt rushed and several moments throughout I found myself rereading a chapter because things weren't explained. 

The only aspect that saved this book and makes me want to pick up the sequel is the characters, I thought they were very entertaining to read about and the romantic buildup was well written.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, and Stalking

Moderate: Gun violence and Grief

Minor: Body horror, Racism, Suicide, Vomit, Medical content, and Murder

morganphoenix's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, and Murder

camy_1911's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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

4.75

This is a great book about a murder mystery set in a faerie world with a wlw main couple, a mlm main couple, non-binary/gender fluid rep. One of the main characters Nausicaä is super sassy and sarcastic. Plenty of funny scenes and pining. Additionally, the author has added content warnings at the start of the book.
Also great pop culture references 😄

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Trafficking

Minor: Body horror, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

booksthatburn's review against another edition

I love Fae and Greek mythology, so when I realized this was going to give me Tisiphone and the High Court all in one book I was intrigued. Ultimately I’m stopping because it feels like it’s trying to do too much, and by trying to remember the many characters and track the complex blend of two already massive paradigms/pantheons... it got to be overwhelming. The Furies are great, and the Furies plus the Faerie Courts would be really cool, but the Furies, the Greco-Roman creation myth, complex systems for inheritance, political machinations, a serial murderer (or murderers), and the marginalization of the faeries (which are different from the Fae), and the persecution of the Ironborn (which could variously be considered Fae, Faerie, or human?)... it’s a lot. It would be a lot for even a trilogy to establish gradually, it begs for the room to have major details conveyed simply at first and then expanded, distorted, and recontextualized over the course of two books minimum. You can do really cool narrative things with “knowing” something then finding out your information was wrong and it changes how you think about what came before. Here things were established, rebutted, and adjusted so quickly I’m not even sure if they were supposed to be changes at all. I made it just over a third of the way through and I feel overwhelmed by the world and underwhelmed by the plot.

My one regret by not finishing this is I won’t know how things resolve for Tisiphone, but there’s too much extraneous stuff around her very interesting backstory for me to get fully into this one thing I like.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Body horror and Suicide

Full CWs provided from the Author’s Note. TWs may be incomplete. CW for anger, arson, blood/gore, body horror (minor), death of a child, depression, disownment, divorce, drug use/addiction, grief/grieving, human trafficking, poverty, psychopathy, stalking, suicide (past, off-page), suicidal ideation, toxic relationship/manipulation, trauma/PTSD, racism, violence/gun violence. TW for Harry Potter reference (page 169).

irlchaosdemon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking

Minor: Misogyny and Sexism

victoria_tsonos's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

Minor: Body horror