Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Laws of the Skies by Grégoire Courtois

46 reviews

horrorandscience's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Excrement, Vomit, and Car accident

Minor: Animal cruelty and Child abuse

ismerene's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

Though clocking in at a short 147 pages, The Laws of the Skies manage to pack punch after punch after punch - literally AND figuratively, to the point where it becomes almost darkly comical. There is no feel good story here, no satisfying conclusion or moral to be learned. It's death, child death, and little more. 

Saw this reviewed on TikTok, and thought I'd give it a whirl despite the low rating and the obvious subject matter. It doesn't hold back letting you know exactly what type of story it is, and the tension is created knowing the deaths that will occur, leaving you to only guess how they will come about.
Unfortunately, that tension was punctured like a balloon with each subsequent incident, as it started to come off like The Gashlycrumb Tinies. I'm not sure if this was on purpose, or if it was because there was little to no story to carry them - the tragedies were the story - but it became darkly comedic in a not-funny-ironic sort of way. Even though I don't hate this book, it doesn't add anything to it's genre or really anything, in my opinion. The ending was less than a page long. 

The other issue that heavily contributed to it's rating was the style of writing. At certain points, it was well-done, but would occasionally devolve into paragraph long spindles of thought that splintered until my eyes glazed over and I lost whatever point the author attempted to make. No 7 year old has thought spirals like that, and it only served to add to the heightened absurdity of the entire novella. 

If you're morbidly curious - feel free to pick this up. But understand it's focus is only on the tragedies, and little else. I regret reading only because it doesn't really serve any purpose except to be depressing.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Violence, and Murder

loganrhps's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

1.75

Maybe some of the appeal was lost in translation, but this was just child torture to the tune of various inner monologues. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Torture, and Murder

noonanjohnc's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Car accident, and Alcohol

jackiesspookyshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

1.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

noveltay's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

If you have ever read The Troop by Nick Cutter, this is right up your alley. I do not think this book is for the squeamish or emotional person, as this is all about children dying (some in horrific ways). Keep that in mind. But for the horror aspect: this was incredibly written.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

chloseencounter's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I don’t know what I was expecting, I went into this read pretty blind to what it was about. I’m not sure what I thought it was going to be, but definitely not what it was…

This novel was beautifully written and brutal, the descriptions of graphic violence where some of the most agonizing and genuine I’ve ever read but that’s sort of all this story had to offer. I kept waiting for there to be some sort of lesson or point to the brutality but there just wasn’t. I just keep coming back to the why of it all. You may expect a story to have a plot, or a lesson, or even be a character study but to me, it just wasn’t any of those things. I suppose it was meaning to stand for loss of innocence but I didn’t even get enough time and introspection with each character to see that. I suppose if anything the ending was…ironic, I guess.

The hunter becomes the hunted.

I don’t think of myself as someone who is bothered by violence but also I don’t really find joy in reading about the terrible and upsetting deaths of six year olds, one after another…and for what? Was it some weird metaphor for Darwinism? I honestly have no idea and at the end of the day that left me with a lot to be desired. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

archaicrobin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This is not a book for everyone, be very aware of all content warnings before picking this one up!! This dark and disturbing novel reminded me a lot of Tender is the Flesh in its bleakness, in its constant horror and hopelessness. Tons of gore, death, and terror in this one so don’t go into it lightly.  But if you do, you’ll find a great horror novel that’s hard to put down. I mostly read this in one sitting because once the horror starts it doesn’t stop and I could not rest with this book half finished! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

elsebeok's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, and Car accident

Minor: Alcohol and Sexual harassment

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail