Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon

12 reviews

archaicrobin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

This is the third book by McMahon I’ve read and so far she never disappoints. A fast paced thriller with multiple timelines and multiple strong female leads all trying to solve the same mystery. I love this author’s skill in weaving supernatural with thriller and it’s always hard to put her books down. If you’re looking for a spooky winter thriller with some mystery elements I’d recommend this one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Miscarriage, Blood, Grief, and Murder

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

rubys100's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

4.25

Great book until the rushed ending and not all plot points are explained. 
I found the 1908 parts much more enjoyable then present day. 
Some of the characters decisions didn’t match who they were in my opinion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Miscarriage and Forced institutionalization

kkalicky94's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Miscarriage, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

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

4.5

Holy. Cow. 

I absolutely adored this reading experience. The Winter People is a beautiful, perfect balance of suspense and horror, exploring grief and oppression and the consequences of holding on too tight to the things we love.

If you're looking for a lightly suspenseful "what's going on here" kind of story...this is not that. This is full-on creepy and terrifying. At its heart, though, is this question of what unnatural evil can arise when we try too hard to subvert death and the grieving process. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Violence, Grief, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death

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

waytoomanybooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

2.5

A harrowing tale with many twists and turns, which keeps you interested and guessing. I was glued to the story up until the last third. I wasn't thrilled with the ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Gore, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

thet0meraider's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Honestly, I was expecting more from this novel. I went into reading thinking it would be the greatest book of all times - chiefly because the person who recommended it to me was so enthusiastic about it. In the end it was a nice read, but it isn't one I'd easily recommend to anyone.

I'm way more into fast-paced books and thus it took a while for me to get used to this novel's moderate narrative rhythm. Once I did, though, the story caught up, giving way to a thrilling sequence of events that made me devour chapter after chapter.
Was I content with the ending? Not really.
Will I remember this book by the end of the year? I'm honestly curious to find out.

For one, I was expecting Ruthie and possibly her mother to give a sort of closure to Gertie's legacy. Plus, I'm not a big fan of open endings and this one, with all the hints left around saying how dangerous sleepers are, clearly points to an "after" that the book doesn't explore.

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Overall, then, I am subtracting a quarter of a point because of the slowness of the first few chapters, and a point because I'm not big into open endings. 
The plot itself was good, the sort of scavenger hunt the author contrived really got me hooked. Some parts were eery enough (much to my enjoyment!) and I've truly appreciated the book-in-book trope - one of my all-time favourites. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Body horror

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