Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Chalk Man, by C.J. Tudor

18 reviews

glut's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Child abuse

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Abortion

Minor: Suicide, Child abuse, Addiction, Mental illness, Pedophilia, and Death of parent

ripxw's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Suicide, and Dementia

Minor: Animal death

trifi's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Rape, Self harm, Animal death, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse

mghrt06's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Death of parent

beckyyreadss's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

 Thank you, Michael Joseph Penguin Publishing, for sending this book in a welcome pack in exchange for an honest review. 

In 1986, Eddie and his friends are just kids on the verge of becoming teens. They spend their days biking around their sleepy English village and looking for any excitement they can get. The chalk men are their secret code: little chalk stick figures they leave for one another as messages only they can understand. But then a mysterious chalk man leads them right to a dismembered body of a child, and nothing is ever the same. 30 years later, Eddie is fully grown and thinks he’s put his past behind him, but then he gets a letter in the mail containing a single chalk stick figure. When it runs out that his friends got the same message, they think it could be a prank – until one of them dies. That's when Eddie realizes that saving himself means finally figuring out what really happened all those years ago. 

I really enjoyed this book – it was messy and weird, but I feel like it was the writing style. It was bizarre but it worked by the end. At the beginning, my head was completely battered. I was so confused and it sort of had to go round the bend and back again but at the end I understood the plot. Eddie is a messed-up kid and really should have gone to therapy when he was younger because the actions he took as a child and an adult were weird and messed-up. Like all those children involved are messed up and desperately need therapy. It sorts of shows that everyone is always hiding something.  

If you really want to read a messed-up book that will screw with your mind, this book is for you.   

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Abortion, and Murder

Moderate: Car accident, Injury/injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, and Sexual assault

Minor: Death of parent

litalia's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• 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

Graphic: Animal death, Alcohol, Bullying, Dementia, Death, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicide, Murder, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Physical abuse

Minor: Pregnancy

blouviere4's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Murder, Death, Blood, Body horror, and Injury/injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Pregnancy, Animal death, Death of parent, Dementia, Abortion, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Car accident

crustyy_rat's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Sexual assault, Injury/injury detail, Rape, Death, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Child death, Child abuse, Dementia, and Death of parent

yvonne_aaf's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

This book was okay, it’s one of the first horror novels I’ve read, it’s not a genre I’m particularly drawn to. I think the pacing of the book was really good, it was a bit slow to get going, but then I raced through it once the actual mystery started picking up. Whilst I never felt particularly invested in the characters, the actual plot was interesting enough that I wanted to know how it concluded.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Dementia

Moderate: Abortion and Death of parent

megpadams's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Lots of thoughts! 

Spoiler

• Wtf was that ending! I low key expected it because there were hints all the way through but it was so sudden! 
• I really wanted it to turn out to be supernatural 
• Still not entirely sure about the dreams- trauma or was Ed starting to show symptoms of dementia like his dad? 
• Did we ever find out who was murdered in the playground a few generations before?
• Was the traveller man at the fair actually the reverend? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Alcoholism, Animal death, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Terminal illness