Reviews tagging 'Blood'

And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott

19 reviews

baileyanabella's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

... just wow. I am going to be thinking about this book for a long, long time. My first completed title from the 2024 Women's prize longlist, and if the rest of them hold a candle to this one then we are in for a real treat.
Slight spoiler alert in the content warnings - but if you are sensitive to dark themes I recommend looking over them, there is a lot in this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Alcohol

jessicakornelsen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Drug abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Classism

drownedinfictionx's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

L

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Classism

tenderbench's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Racism, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

Moderate: Vomit, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

brit_is_reading's review against another edition

tense slow-paced

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

2.0

To be totally honest, I nearly DNF'd this more than once in the time it took me to read. But once I hit about 64%, I decided to see it all the way through.

 While I was interested in the themes that Alicia Elliott was exploring in the first half of the book, I found the back half to fully descend into madness (which, I understand, is part of the plot), but was largely difficult to follow and understand.

I don't think I'm unable to explore dense material, but it just came across like there were so many interesting ideas here, and just one or two couldn't be decided upon - so it had to be all of them.

The end in particular, while I found it to be sweet as an idea, felt wholly out of place in comparison to the rest of the novel.

If I had to do it all over again, I’d probably skip this one. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child death, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

Minor: Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Cannibalism, and Pregnancy

careinthelibrary's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

2.5

This follow-up to Alicia Elliott's memoir A Mind Spread Out on the Ground covers a lot of the same topics as her debut, but confronts those realities in challenging and surprising ways. 

I struggled with how slow the first half was. It was slowly building to something, but I was impatient to get into the horrific and the shocking. It deals with some heavy topics like post-partum mental health, Indigenous motherhood being intensely scrutinized, MMIWG2S, and academia's fascination and appropriation of Indigenous knowledge and stories.

The second half really takes off and I was both *here for it* and also very confused. It is full of twists and turns and definitely held my attention as its pacing sped up. Those topics that were introduced in the first half fall to the wayside a bit in exchange for gory body horror.

The book jumps from domestic fiction with a graphic, horror twist to a confusing sci-fi conclusion. I wish it had kept its horror genre throughout and maintained its clear message because I felt the last 10% fizzled out. I'm not quite sure where it leaves the protagonist and her family.

I can feel the influence of Cherie Dimaline in And Then She Fell's dark, urban fantasy vibes and fans of her work will want to check this out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, and Sexual harassment

bookishcori's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Colonisation

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Fatphobia, Genocide, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Gun violence, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Self harm, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War

Mention of MMIWG2S, residential schools.

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Thanks to Dutton Books for the free copy of this book.

 - AND THEN SHE FELL is what I might categorize as literary horror. Elliott blends a variety of types of horror - of motherhood, of racism, of literal monsters and voices in your head - into an incredible tapestry of a book.
- Much of this book is built on the tension of Alice (and the reader) trying to sort out if the things she's experiencing are real, or if she's losing her mind. But something happens in the last few chapters that takes everything to a whole new level. I was reading with my mouth open, not wanting it to end.
- The more I think on this book, the more layers I find in it. I hope you'll seek it out, even if you aren't typically a horror reader. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Abortion