Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

A Dark and Starless Forest by Sarah Hollowell

5 reviews

rory18's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

A lot to like about this book but also a lot to not like, so I'm rating it 3 stars. It's compelling and the relationships between the characters are as well, but the excessive use of Native folklore from an author I can't find anything about being Native is not good. It's also really predictable. I wrote that diversity was complicated because the two trans characters are somewhat stereotypical, with the non-binary one having shapeshifting/glamouring powers and the trans woman having anger that can take up a room, generally being the angriest character, and being the

Spoiler

computer whiz

of the group. She also

Spoiler

leaves them without saying goodbye.

And in the audiobook, the narrator reads her parts with a voice about as deep as the adult men even though she's been on blockers for years. So like, is it really all that diverse if the representation is questionable and there's cultural appropriation? It's also kind of weird how she has so many characters of color with next to no background of their pasts other than "oh, this Mexican-American character knew some Spanish". 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Trafficking, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Medical trauma, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Fatphobia, and Stalking

Minor: Vomit, Cursing, Incest, Pedophilia, and Xenophobia

The "there's nothing Frank wouldn't do" and fact that there's no video footage of Frank's room with Elle in it and the general non-sexual first stages of grooming is enough to imply an adult/minor relationship with 16 year old Elle being Frank's favorite, so I'm tagging adult-minor relationship. The main character was in a puppy love relationship with one of her sisters before they grew to consider each other sisters and talks about remembering the feel of her mouth which is sort of pseudo-incestuous. Frank doesn't let the girls learn Spanish for some reason. Excessive mentions and usage of w/nd/gos for a non-Native author.

pixie_dust's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

Can't believe the biggest plot twist is

Spoiler

Frank having a gun.

Spoiler

Jokes aside, I love this book. I was on the fence at the start since it felt slow and felt repetitive. But as the story continues, my fondness for Derry and the rest of the siblings just kept growing deeper. By the end, I could not put the book down.

Everyone is a unique character and just fun to read. Even Frank is worth my time! I just felt so drawn to their lake house and I was yearning for more after I reached the acknowledgement page. It was a magical (and gory) rollercoaster ride, and I'm glued on the front row seat!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Gore

Moderate: Medical content, Death of parent, Vomit, Child death, and Medical trauma

instalovewithbooks's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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? No

4.0

I didn't know what to expect when I started listening to this book, oh boy. It delighted me. Having a MAIN CHARACTER WHOSE FAT AND HAPPY ABOUT IT AND TALKING ABOUT IT LIKE FUCK WE NEED THIS MORE IN LITERATURE!! 
The power that is in her too and the diversity of the other characters!! There was black rep, deaf rep and more but I am honestly drawing a blank 💀 I blame it cause it's been a long day ( I saw Rebecca Kaung!!!) Anyways read this book. It's so fucking good. Pick it up for the fat rep and the cover and stay for the amazing story!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Murder, Misogyny, Medical trauma, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Gun violence

thereaderfriend's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I liked this a lot but felt like it was slow. Not much else was going on besides the main drive of the story. Really great diversity though. Also wanted to note that there was parental physical and emotional abuse.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, and Death of parent

Minor: Physical abuse, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Abandonment, Confinement, Cursing, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

racheloddment's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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: Murder, Blood, Emotional abuse, Violence, Gun violence, and Confinement

Moderate: Death of parent, Car accident, and Vomit

Minor: Mental illness and Medical content