Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley

4 reviews

dustghosts's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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

3.0

a very gothic (and… very British) read. The author builds atmosphere beautifully, and the characters’ cognitive dissonance and religious conflicts feel very hearty and real, well-explored. the horror aspect of the book… less so. the latter part of the book felt like it could have been beefed up and the consequences felt more clearly. there is something in the vagueness of the evil and the bluntness of the climax that feels like it suits the genre at the same time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide and Racism

astudyinliterature's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.25

I don’t really know what to say about this one. I wasn’t prepared for it to be most centred around Catholicism which, for someone who isn’t religious made it quite tough. I only began to really understand why it was the way it was when I’d finished reading it and it took a long time for me to understand why the blurb said what it says. 
I can’t say it was a terrible book because it was well written but I just kind of wanted to get it finished more than anything. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, and Child death

Minor: Cursing

dale1997's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Grief, Murder, Violence, and Ableism

slantrhymes's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

1.0

The attempted twist ending felt bizarre, unearned, and not built up to at all. The book didn't punish the actions of the parents or their church friends,  instead forcing an external and confusing villain into the picture abruptly. Just really disappointing, as the story had good bones, but the "twist" felt like the author desperately wanted to be writing a different story than the one he actually was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Alcoholism