Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Haar by David Sodergren

23 reviews

hauntedantiqueshop's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Now THIS is the most romantic I ever want horror to be. I really loved this story. It’s thoughtful and sentimental and sad and gross!!!! The body horror is outrageous. I loved every second of it. And the connection to the sea!!!! Ugh. I just love the ocean. The atmosphere in this was just superb. There was a couple of aspects I found a little ridiculous but it didn’t pull me out of the story. I would really not be surprised if this is made into a movie soon (a24 is my hope but my luck is a Hulu original).

I am just so happy that this was the 100th book I read this year!!!! 🥹🖤

p.s. I’ve never read a monsterfucker book but I think this falls in the category somehow— but in the most chill way if that makes sense? Like it’s not a monsterfucker book but it has monsterfucker elements. At least questionable ones for me.

Like, he’s for sure a monster and she absolutely fucks him. But he’s human when they have sex (specifically in a human suit of her dead husband). Like I think that counts, right??

Either way, I respect it. Get it, Muriel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Self harm and Suicide attempt

Minor: Gun violence, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

•Ageism is prevalent •monsterfucker elements, I’m not an expert

raybudbury's review

dark funny hopeful tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Loved this one a lot. Very heartwarming and charming for how gnarly the horror/gore was. 

I think this is a great example of an excellent horror story imo. Horror seems to be the hardest genre to write/direct. It’s hard to pace, it’s hard to make text/visuals scary, etc. 

This one is great because it uses both humour and heart to balance out the gore and horror of the situation.

+ it’s more like…. Is this monster really the bad guy in this situation or is it the big corporation that destroyed this small Scottish town to blame for the carnage

anyway loved it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

midnightgremlin's review

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

gnarlyrae's review

dark emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Surprisingly charming and sweet for a book with so much eyeball mutilation!! Check the CWs, but I think this could be a great one for someone wanting to check out a gory horror book that isn't too mean-spirited.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Misogyny, Grief, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Body shaming, Cursing, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Gun violence and Forced institutionalization

fangirljeanne's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

This is my The Notebook. Dissolved penis and all. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

mblanke's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

keiraonyxraven's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Dementia

breebirb's review

dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

This book is for monster romance girlies (nongendered) who want to see the horror that comes with love. Muriel is such a beautiful, stubborn gem. Avalon is unbelievably sweet and absolutely terrifying, truly the best of both worlds. And that ending, so SO satisfying. I wish I read this sooner when Trevor Henderson shared the cover. 

But now I have and it's easily one of new favorite books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content and Grief

vexatiousbird's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

It’s not fully a 5-star masterpiece but I loved it. Fully satisfied the craving for gnarly body horror, and then some. Starts quaint, gets gory and doesn’t back down. Unique relationship at the center of it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Grief

rodent_scribbles's review

dark mysterious 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

1.0

Was expecting a more substantial story, instead all I got was a poor granny gets the oportunity to kill all the evil bad guys at her doorstep.

Characters are flat and uninteresting, fiting into easy stereotypes (the evil billionaire, the mysogynistic construction worker, etc). Every character fits neatly into good or bad and there is no conflict around the act of killing. All character deaths are completely predictable and unmemorable: a character in opposition to the protagonist is set up as an irredeemable bastard and is promptly killed in a paragraph of shock value blood and sex.

The entire story felt like the author was building strawmen to be slaughtered in a gratuitous revenge fantasy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail