Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco

8 reviews

talonsontypewriters's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Murder, Body horror, Death, Blood, Kidnapping, and Violence

Moderate: Medical content, Misogyny, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Sexism, Child death, Grief, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal death, Vomit, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Rape, Ableism, Bullying, and Homophobia

roksyreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

4.5

Dark, tense, and a little bit mysterious; this is a great ghost story inspired by Japanese legend that is satisfyingly creepy but also oddly sweet. It was a comfortable read, easy to finish in a couple of sessions, but balanced nicely by a steady pace. It won't be for everyone, but I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Rape, Child abuse, and Pedophilia

yellow_ylugbug's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Child abuse, Death, Murder, Body horror, and Mental illness

woolgatherer's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.25

Every once in a while, I’m in the mood to read some kind of horror. I picked this book at random, not knowing much beyond a general summary. I should preface that I’m not easily scared, so, for those who get antsy with the horror genre, take what I say with a grain of salt. I honestly didn’t find this book scary at all. I can tell Chupeco was leaning more towards a haunting atmosphere than anything, but there are also a few gory moments that may make some queasy.

I thought the main point-of-view from a spirit named Okiku really interesting. She had a distinct voice that gave the story a strong direction for the most part, especially highlighting themes of healing as well as revenge. However, I think the development of the characters in this book suffered a little in favor of atmosphere, which, unfortunately, didn’t do much for me.

I think this is one of those hit-or-miss books. Chupeco is a great writer, though, so I don’t think you’ll be too disappointed with this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Child death, Murder, and Body horror

Moderate: Torture, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Pedophilia and Rape

peppers_books's review against another edition

5.0

i have the hardcover and read it over a year ago but i loved it so when i saw the new cover i knew i wanted a copy. i finally got around to rereading it and it was even better than i remembered. i feel like this story has a little bit of everything. it's creepy at times and there's some really cool scenes that get a little gory. i could picture some of them as if i was watching a horror movie and it made the experience so fun. aside from the horror aspect, there's some tenderness and redemption and healing and family and of course revenge. it's definitely a book that i'll be reading again

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Murder, Child death, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Gore, and Death

Minor: Bullying and Pedophilia

lau_ro's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Very well  written. The  subtle change of point  of view  makes it read like you watch a movie, then you remember who's telling the story. And the visual cues of POV's – let's call them quircks – make it more dynamic. And scary. Reading this at night was a bad, good, idea. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

booksthatburn's review

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

THE GIRL FROM THE WELL is a ghost story from the perspective of the haunter, helping a boy get free from the spirit under his skin, punishing the murderers of children along the way. 

I love Okiku as a narrator, the way the text occasionally stutters and jumps to convey her mood helps to build tension. The way Okiku feels like a strange mix between deeply invested narrator and impartial observer meant that I would often forget that this was from her perspective, only to have that illusion broken when she counted things or the text caught and jumped because something interesting or stressful happened. The lulls where I briefly forgot it was her helped to build tension, though I think it would be differently good form of tension if someone were very aware of her ghostly status. 

One of my favorite things is how she keeps doing the avenging ghost thing she's been doing for hundreds of years. Like, she'll be doing things in furtherance of the main plot, and then go away from the human secondary characters and take care of some vengeance and then come back. It helps to make her history feel real instead of having her immediately halt everything for this one person. The story is about how knowing him changes her, but it happens gradually without erasing who she is. The aftercare is good, conveying the characters moving on and healing afterwards.

I liked this a lot and I'll definitely read the sequel, the way the status quo changes is intriguing and I want to know what happens next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Body horror, and Death

Moderate: Kidnapping, Mental illness, Excrement, Vomit, Self harm, Torture, Murder, and Child death

Minor: Ableism, Misogyny, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Cursing, and Animal death

CW for exorcism.

enderbunni's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Child abuse, and Death