Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

What Moves The Dead by T. Kingfisher

22 reviews

kwheelzroxx's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and War

Minor: Sexism, Transphobia, and Violence

theinkedpath's review

emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

ES:

Tenía muchísimas expectativas con esta autora y este libro. Puede que fuera porque no he leído el libro en el que se basa esta novela corta, una reinvención de "La caída de la casa Usher" de Poe...pero este libro no era para mi. Se me quedó corto y falto de ritmo en varias partes.
Pero cuidado que no os vayáis a pensar que todo es malo. Kingfisher es una experta en la ambientación...Está claro que prácticamente te zambulle en ese mundo que da mucho, mucho mal rollo a veces. La atmósfera es gótica y asfixiante, tétrica y gótica (¡me tuvo agarrada a la silla todo el rato).
Además, a pesar de lo corto de la historia las relaciones entre personajes están bien construidas y argumentadlas (incluidos aquellos personajes que ya se conocen).
Mi mayor problema ha sido el ritmo. Sé que la literatura gótica, de la que bebe esta historia, tiene un ritmo lento...pero ha habido veces, previas al nudo del argumento, donde no sabía por dónde iba a ir este libro, y lo que me da más pena, no tenía ganas de seguir leyendo.

Al final le di dos estrellas porque, aunque me pareció una propuesta interesante, esperaba más de él y las partes positivas no hicieron que al acabar el libro yo acabase por todo lo alto.

EN:

This was one of my most anticipated books...and I ended up a bit disappointed. 
I know this feeling may be linked to my lack of knowledge about this book, as it is a version of the gothic tale of 'The fall of the house of Usher' by Edgar Allan Poe, which I did not read, and probably I would have more enjoyment of the book if I had read it first.

I have to say the worldbuilding and the atmosphere is the thing I enjoyed the most. Kingfisher knows how to keep you in your seat...even if you do not know what is going on, you can tell something is wrong...very wrong. The setting of this book is tremendously rich and alluring (I was spooked out a few times). In addition to this, the character dynamics were well-developed, specially those who are not friends from the beginning. 
However, I do feel that the narrative rhythm was its weakest point. I know this is a novella inspired in gothic literature and, as such the narration is slower, but the rythym to me seemed uneven, having moments where I did not care and I not know what was going on, and others where I was completely immerse. 

In the end, despite of all its good qualities, I felt it was short and narratively uneven, so I ended up feeling disappointed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Suicide, and War

inlucisabsentiam's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

A fantastic modern retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe. It was a really quick read, perhaps a one day sort of book, but I took my time to savour it.

For my first Kingfisher boom as well, it was a great jumping off point!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Panic attacks/disorders

cardaisy's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, and Murder

Minor: Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, and War

cranshrooms's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

I DEVOURED this book on a rare day off. Like an animal. And I [censored] loved it. I have loved EAP since I was 8, and this scratched an itch I didn't realize I still had. I loved how the author brought in a discussion of new pronouns, gave them valuable and compelling cultural context, and then also made it relevant to the horror!! Wow. Wow. Loved it. The writing style was very Poe meets Doyle meets 2015 Tumblr user and it was absolutely perfect. The science and horror melded perfectly. I'm going to be a freak about this book for some time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide and Terminal illness

winglesswarrior's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: War

raptorq's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Terminal illness

Minor: Vomit, Medical content, and War

blacksphinx's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Vomit, Alcohol, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Sexism, Suicide, Transphobia, Xenophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Drowning

lycheejelly's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Moderate: Gore, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

librarymouse's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

This was a fast and interesting read. The first half of the book was a little slow, and the last half a little fast, but overall the pacing added to the element of mystery. It wasn't hard to guess where the story was going, in terms of the fungal poisoning, but smaller aspects of the mystery were still surprising.

Madeline having been dead since before the start of the events of the novel was an interesting twist. It makes a lot of sense looking back. It's also really neat how the integration of a language with so many pronouns into the plot through the character of Alex creates further interest and intrigue in how Maddie and Alex interact concerning the way she references the fungus as if it were a child. I don't have any particular love of Poe, beyond the general appreciation, but this was an engaging use of his premise.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Suicide, Vomit, and War

I marked eating disorders as being a graphic description because of the ways in which the emaciated characters are explained in depth.