Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon

10 reviews

queclecumber's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, Suicide, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Eating disorder, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

aparker89's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

a_novel_craving's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

mtehan7's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I loved the beginning of this book and how much mystery there was, it was truly hard to put down. But I feel like it faltered in the end, it felt rushed and mildly cheesy.. for as much time was spent enhancing the mystery, I feel the ending could have been more drawn out, and more satisfying. Overall though, it was a unique story, and a fun supernatural experience. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

katelynprice's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

I devoured this whole book in one day. I love a dual-timeline story where the past and present connect, so this was right up my alley. It was delightfully creepy while examining different responses to grief and loss. McMahon is brilliant in the way she drops information, describes characters, and sets a spooky tone. This was my first book by her, but it definitely won’t be my last. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, and Car accident

phantomgecko's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

A novel labeled "horror" that is actually horrifying. Kind of a slow burn horror in a lot of ways. When a story is told nonchronologically, there needs to be delicate unveiling of plot points to build tension well. This book does that well. What happens in the past gently (hauntingly) informs what happens in the future and vice versa.

The spookiness of the story is not a new idea, v Pet Sematary. But the inclusion of

a non-supernatural antagonist

is really delightful. Like, chef kiss. Also a fan of the dual but intertwined mysteries: how did Gertie die? And where's Alice?

Also, although a supernatural evil is heavily implied, I felt like it wasn't the only option. Martin going crazy was a strong possibility in my mind. Definitely one of the most tense bits for me was centered on the barn. I legit thought Martin had accidentally killed and skinned his daughter in a delusional state. Chilling.

Overall, I'd say the ending was frustrating, though. Ruthie deciding not to go to college? Bleh. Destroying the pages? Yeah! A certain someone going ahead and sharing all those pages anyway? C'mon, dude.

Frustrating ending, but it doesn't ruin the book for me. Delicious resolution before the frustrating bits.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Blood

michaelat21's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

3.0

The ending of this book sucked. I loved the book and was on the edge of my seat and then it just kinda ended in the most meh way and fell flat. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, and Blood

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Injury/Injury detail

jjjreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

katsbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

“If snow melts down to water, does it still remember being snow?”

“Madness is always a wonderful excuse, don’t you think? For doing terrible things to other people.”

“How can you dream if you don’t have a soul?”

This was a fun, spooky read. I've had this book on my shelf for literal years but definitely never realized it was a horror. I'm so glad I finally read it, though. I would not call myself a horror reader and this feels like a solid book for those just kind of getting into the horror genre. It was creepy and suspenseful without being overly gross or too "out there." I liked the multiple perspectives. It was easy to tell the difference between each POV and I was equally interested in all of the different characters we were following. I enjoyed the creepy feeling that the book gave me. I read a big chunk of this novel late in the evening and freaked myself out when I had to turn out the lights for bed time. I always find that to be a good sign in terms of general atmosphere. 

I'll try to not be too spoilery with the things I didn't like it but please read ahead with your own risk, especially if you're thinking of reading this book in the near future. My major gripe was that the only BIPOC character ended up being essentially a villain. She was very much the mystical Indian that only serves to further the character development of a white character. My other major question had to do with the teenaged character and how she came to live with her adoptive parents. The whole situation seemed like a major plot hole and didn't make sense to me. Personally, if I had been her aunt in the situation, I would not have let her adoptive parents take her given the traumatic events that led to her adoption. 

Overall, this was a solid mystery horror. It was fun and gave me creepy vibes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

chellbear's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Blood, and Car accident

Minor: Body horror, Cancer, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, and Abandonment