Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson

54 reviews

looking4thedr's review

dark mysterious tense fast-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? No

3.5

I really enjoyed this book. Some parts were slightly predictable and some parts were uninteresting to me, and I would have liked the side characters to have had a bit more focus. 
I liked the world building (I’m a vampire fan) and the themes of female friendships and camaraderie in the face of threat (not letting someone/a system take them from their community).  If there is a second instalment, it would be interesting to see where the characters go from here.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Drug use

Minor: Alcoholism and Death of parent

asperomari's review against another edition

dark 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

2.5

Unfortunately I didn’t like this as much as I thought I would :(

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Sexual content, Blood, Medical content, Gore, and Body horror

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, and Murder

swampsprout's review

dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Drug use, Confinement, Blood, Gore, Death, Murder, Self harm, Trafficking, Child abuse, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cannibalism, Slavery, Eating disorder, Sexual content, and Addiction

zany25's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.25

I think this book might work best if you read it kinda fast because there are definitely some slowdown sections that might drag, but I found enjoyable anyways. To me this book is all vibes, gothic classist mean girl lesbian vampire vibes. Which I liked, I wouldn’t say the plot is terribly strong until the ending, but if you’re along for the ride it’s definitely easy to get pulled in.

Also I’ve drawn blood for work in the real world and their blood letting descriptions were pretty spot on, aside from the sprinkling of supernatural of course, I enjoyed how they described the veins and scarring as a nice realistic touch. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Classism, Drug use, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Domestic abuse, Death, Alcohol, Infidelity, and Sexual content

Minor: Mental illness, Self harm, Incest, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Terminal illness, and Addiction

veeples's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? No

4.0

House of Hunger is a fast paced gothic romance that hits all of the notes that a true gothic should have: the depravity of the rich, the secrecy, the lurking horror. It has all the building blocks of a standard gothic and it delivers it well enough. Though it’s a bloody book, the gore and violence is pretty low and classically written. I think my main gripes with this book is the characters feel a bit bland: Marion is a standard protagonist and Lisavet is a standard aristocrat who is standoffish and alluring. We’re not breaking the mold exactly, but it’s a fun read for it is.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, and Drug use

cozyscones's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, Death, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Child abuse, Classism, and Body horror

Minor: Cannibalism

tnm94's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Drug use, Gore, Body horror, Mental illness, Self harm, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Animal death, Classism, Addiction, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Incest

ronjaorsomething's review against another edition

dark 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

3.5

The story was amazing and it definitely had me hooked. It's the kind of story that is hard to let go of. The characters were intriguing but sometimes I felt like the main character didn't act the way she was described (or described herself). There were also a lot of word repetitions and phrases that just kept being used which bothered me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, and Gore

Moderate: Sexual content

behindpaperbacks's review

dark mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Blood, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Body horror, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death of parent

melliedm's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Another great dip into a horror staple from the author (I also enjoyed A Year of Witching) that balances gothic romance, body horror, and class commentary in an accessible, and fast-paced read. 

Marion is from the slums of this pseudo-European fantasy world, both the social strata she was born into and her race contributing to her place in the world. She works thanklessly as a maid for a demanding mistress and fights to keep her earnings from her brother, who lost himself to sickness and drink and became the controlling, abusive figure they lacked without parents. Marion is also, straight from the outset, a lesbian—hell yeah. 

When Marion sees a listing seeking a new bloodmaid, she sees an opportunity. You see, in this world the northern regions are ruled by a nobility who, inspired by dark tradition, consume blood. They're not vampires, per se—they're a more human metaphor for the desperate consumption and boredom of the upper crust. But hey, becoming a bloodmaid might cost you several pints or quarts over the years, but once you finish your tenure you're basically set for life. That's gotta be better than working till your death, right? 

Marion ends up applying, and with the exquisite taste of her blood she gets fast-tracked into the court, where she's soon introduced to the Countess Lisavet, of the House of Hunger. From there, we enter into a thrilling and twisted toxic romance between the two, a courtly competition between bloodmaids for importance, and an old castle full of dark secrets to be uncovered. 

Where House of Hunger could have been satisfied there, it instead takes things a step further and makes a firm commentary on the nature of class, the limits we can achieve within a system of capitalistic consumption, and how easily possession can be confused with love. 

I loved Henderson's quick pace, especially her world-building. Too frequently I find that authors dump too much information or try to make their world too different from our own, forcing them to spend more time teaching us about how their world works and less time on how the characters interact with the world: Henderson didn't have that problem here. She takes what she needs from our familiarity, settles it into a gaslamp-esque setting, and adds her own twists that she works in where it's relevant to our characters, and doesn't bother giving us unnecessary details. 

I had a great time with this read, and devoured it at breakneck pace. With this and A Year of Witching, Henderson is now on my "must read new releases" list. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Cannibalism, Confinement, Violence, Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

Moderate: Animal death, Classism, and Chronic illness

Minor: Addiction, Torture, and Racism

Needles