Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Black Mouth by Ronald Malfi

9 reviews

jourdanicus's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

4.5

Two brothers and their friends on a journey to confront childhood trauma together.

I love when horror has fantastical elements that mirror real horrors. It's such an interesting way to process the actual terrible things that happen in real life. After all, to paraphrase Holly Gibney, we shouldn't question supernatural monsters when we can hardly explain what drives the behavior of real-life monsters.

Speaking of King, this book was compared to It in Libby where I first saw it. That both drew me in and made me feel skeptical. Now that I've finished it I can say, yep, this was a King-alike, and only in good ways! Mostly I would say that it had the same "vibe," but there were definitely some intentional allusions - "a gumball as red as a clown's nose." Clever. And excuse me for blaspheming but I do think some aspects of Malfi's work here are an improvement on King, namely the less effortful diversity of the characters, and the depth of the setting (which was, in a sense, its own character).

And finally... Dennis 🥺🥺🥺 (that's all I will say.)

I can't wait to read more by this new to me author!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Cursing, Misogyny, Medical content, and Lesbophobia

maevekilcarr's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

I was not expecting to love this so much, wow I’m speechless. The discussions of grief, coping with trauma, building friendships and bonding with your siblings…this was fantastic. I can’t recommend this enough 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

sky_maris's review

dark emotional sad 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Blood, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

aparker89's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

Follow the journey of four adults who served time as children for committing a huge crime against their community. Guilt follows then wherever they go, but they manage until one day HE reappears! Not only is The Magic Man back- but he's out there convincing other preteen kids to commit similar atrocities! 
Find out the truth behind their crime and those that came after and discover where The Magic Man really does get his magic!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ohyayitsapril's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

arichey1988's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

This horror draws on human nature to build suspense. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

bookbelle5_17's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

Review of Black Mouth

By: Ronald Malfi

            When Jamie Warren was thirteen, he, his brother Dennis, and two best friends Mia and Clay encounter a mysterious known as the Magician.  He teaches them magic tricks, tells them they can learn magic, but asks them to do terrible things such as sacrifice Dennis.  As an adult, Jamie is haunted by those memories becoming an alcoholic like his abusive father, but now he is being called home to Black Mouth.  The Magician has returned, and Jamie, Dennis, Mia, and Clay intend to stop him before he poisons any more children.

            This dark and creepy story has supernatural undertones as you don’t know if the Magician is an immortal or if the character’s minds are playing tricks on them.  Jamie like a lot of unreliable narrators in thrillers is an alcoholic so you find yourself not sure if he is haunted by metaphorical ghosts or literal ghosts.  This adds to creepy and unsettledness to the plot as its hard to determine what’s real and what isn’t.  Jamie as a main character is sympathetic with his addiction, his fears about the magician, and his complicated emotions towards Dennis.  He loves Dennis but finds it challenging to take of his brother.  The other two characters Mia and Clay are interesting too.  Clay was born with a disfigurement known as Vitiligo, meaning he lacked pigmentation on certain parts of his skin, and he would get bullied mercilessly.  As an adult he deals with it a lot better and helps kids with issues like his.  Mia on the other hand, lost her parents in a car accident and had become obsessed with death, eventually making horror movies as adult.  They deal with what happened in their own way.  Clay wanting to make sure they protect others like them, Mia wants revenge, and Jamie wants to run taking care of his brother with him.  It reflects how they each cope with trauma; Clay uses it to make him stronger, Mia is full of anger fueling her, and Jamie avoids.  There is foul language and one character whose head I hated being inside.  He has ugly thoughts that bothered me.  The story is good with themes of friendship and the darkness within all of us. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Death of parent, and Murder

kermit_the_wrong's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racism, Vomit, Medical content, and Fire/Fire injury

rachelunabridged's review

dark 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Fatphobia, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Infidelity and Suicide attempt