Reviews tagging 'Death'

Penpal by Dathan Auerbach

83 reviews

sydlexi's review

dark mysterious sad 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? No

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, and Stalking

Moderate: Pedophilia

trippmcgowan's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Dementia, Kidnapping, Stalking, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Dementia, and Grief

hollaylonn's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Pedophilia, Dementia, Stalking, and Car accident

law_8290's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

WOW! This story tied up nicely in one creepy bow! At first I was confused on how all of these stories were going to tie together but the author did an amazing job at pulling it all together in the end. This is definitely a story I will not soon forget. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Pedophilia, Grief, Stalking, and Murder

drsa's review

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Kidnapping, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

purplepickle's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Death, Blood, Grief, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death and Sexual assault

torihbu's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

while some may find the nonchronological flow of this book confusing, i found that it contributed to the novel being incredibly suspenseful. a few questions remain unanswered, but i personally enjoy when a book leaves me with something to think about after i finish it. a chilling example of the horrors of reality and how hard it can be to accept and understand that humans can be just as terrifying as monsters or ghost.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Stalking, Car accident, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Abandonment

lady_grey_with_honey's review

dark 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? No

5.0

This horror story is narrated by a young man who is reflecting back on many strange occurrences from his childhood. In each of the six chapters, he lays out some significant experience, based on what he remembers, starting in kindergarten and progressing through his teen years. These glimpses into his coming-of-age begin innocently - with a school project or an activity with a friend - and slowly ramp up to something terrifying, but inexplicable. He eventually enlists the help of his mother to piece it all together - the truth of what was really happening all those years is devastating. This story was originally released in sections on the r/nosleep forum on Reddit and adapted for The NoSleep Podcast. Fans loved it so much that the author launched an extremely successful Kickstarter to self-publish it as a novel in 2012. I loved it too and stayed up too late some nights because I couldn't put it down. The only reason that I didn't give this a full 5 stars was because the very end of the book became a bit confusing in a few ways. I finished in astonishment and then spent an hour on Reddit threads reading long discussions about the ending in order to make sure I wasn't missing something.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Kidnapping, and Grief

lugosi147's review

challenging 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book is deeply deeply scary and tense at times and so deeply deeply tragic in others.  The author has a knack for crafting horror and pathos into an incredibly paced narrative.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

one boy’s friendship damns his friend’s entire family

dexlud's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Okay I’m giving this a 5 star just because of how purely amazed I am at how much this book purely terrified me. Auerbach definitely has a way with words. Even if the writing itself was just above basic, the way my emotions were toyed with throughout this book was actually insane. I wish I could read this book for the first time because what the fuck. Started reading at 3am, both recommend and do not recommend reading this at such an hour. Definitely recommend this book, has a little bit of body horror too at points and overall is just a gorgeous book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, and Abandonment

Moderate: Body horror and Gore

Minor: Adult/minor relationship