Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Knock Knock, Open Wide by Neil Sharpson

10 reviews

wyabook234's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

Sharpson can be applauded for Knock Knock Open Wide, in which he managed to infuse Irish folklore involving the myth of the Puca and the biology of changelings into the meat of his story. It's too bad that the meat had to be distorted to give Ashling a deus ex machina so that she could come alive at the end. It can be argued that the logic of the plot completely collapses on itself by the end, with how Ashling gets away with murder and then comes completely unscathed as a reward.

There are a lot of eerie moments within the timelines of the Larkin family, and it manages to hook you within the mystery of members involved in the problem. The font change can be interesting regarding the presence of Fitts and how it interacts with the mortals. Even when there are still questions that feel unanswered, if you choose to ignore the small details, like the identity of the hit-and-run victim or what happened to Feidhlim by the end, whether he was dead or not. The romance between Ashling and Betty is sweet but not gripping when feeling their turmoil through the second half. This transfusion of ancient Celtic horror within a story of the plaguing curse is good but not great in execution. 
 

One of the most distressing moments of this story involves the appearance of an undead Gerry Land, who is making breakfast in the kitchen. This ghoul increases the dread for the end of the story and foreshadows a dark answer for Ashling's missing sister. This scene is tied with the one of the Changeling giving birth to Ashling at the end of the book in being the most unnerving within Knock Knock Open Wide, if still unsatisfying, for readers like myself. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Homophobia and Lesbophobia

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

abelle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Suicide, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

dreadspawn'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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

patch22'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Kidnapping and Lesbophobia

mhh831666's review

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

ourladyjack's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

The author makes a quip about the Rwandan genocide in the middle of an exchange about changing a coffee shop name.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Gore, Self harm, Sexual assault, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Drug abuse and Homophobia

jess2obsess's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Sexual content, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, and Outing

meowlo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Sexual assault

sarrie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.5

 

As far as horror books go this one was further into the creepy territory than horrific. The slow dread of somethin coming was strong, and the ‘oh god really?’ was a solid factor in the later portion. As far as staying power though? I’m not so sure on it. 

Knock, Knock, Open Wide has at it’s core the disappearance of a young girl and the kidnapping (years earlier) of a young woman. These two events are closely connected, horrifyingly so, and over the course of the book we find out why and how. It’s a story told over alternating time lines and view points and it moves quickly. Each section is broken into smaller sections which makes the whole thing fly by, so pacing in this is fantastic. 

The characters themselves have a fantastic voice, and I genuinely liked the humor and the interaction between our characters. Truly the only failing in this novel for me is that I’m simply not sure on the staying power. Because the horror wasn’t as intense as I anticipated this one sits more solidly in the creepy area and those books eventually fade for me. 

I do recommend this one, especially for fans of Irish Folklore and those books that have a slow creeping factor to the. The kids show that repeats through the story genuinely freaked me out - that part will stick with me. 

4 out of 5 Black Boxes - I ain’t going in there. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Domestic abuse, Rape, and Sexual violence

ouijabroad's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.0

I read this book in less than a day because I couldn’t put it down! It deals a lot with Irish folklore which prior to my reading I wasn’t familiar with at all. Some things I struggled to understand due to this and had to reread a few things multiple times. No big deal, it didn’t take me out of the immersive story. This was truly unlike anything I have ever read before. I don’t want to say much about this novel as I feel like the synopsis from Nightfire is all you need and if that peaks your interested then I say dive right in! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Sexual content, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Sexual assault