Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Haunting of Blackwood House by Darcy Coates

14 reviews

judassilver's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Kidnapping

redheadsuperpowers's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

This was a good old fashioned spooky haunted house story. I liked the moxie of the main character Mara, and her refusal to let her trauma define her, except oops it does. Lol. The male lead was my favorite, both for his want to be there for her, and for his insistence on taking care of her when she really wasn't taking care of herself. I do wish the author had explored more of Mara's backstory, but she is really a formulaic writer. The story was good anyway. The only true dislike I had was the lack of explanation of all the ghosts. I love backstory ala Thirteen Ghosts! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

czoltak's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

This was the equivalent to all those horror movies that don’t have a good plot but have a lot of jump scares. I have to give this points for actually scaring me and making it hard to not turn more lights on while I was reading. However, the characters were insufferable: we spent so much time on their dysfunctional relationship. Also, the actual storyline was lacking real substance. A good short read when you need some spooky vibes but not one that is super memorable or special.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Suicide, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Animal death

kat_rowlen's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Very gripping and spooky read! This is a good book for someone who is just getting into horror books, or who doesn’t like gory horror books! I didn’t like all the decisions the main character made, but it worked out in the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Blood, and Murder

louisegraveyard's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, Mental illness, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Minor: Animal cruelty and Child abuse

jmkendall0218's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Suicide, and Murder

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

beckyremillard's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Mara is looking to buy a house and comes across one she feels a connection with that is huge and I’m her price range. The down side is the haunted past - lots of people have died and the last family abandoned it without packing any belongings over a decade ago. 

Due to Mara’s own past, she doesn’t believe the house could be haunted. Her boyfriend, Neil, is not a fan of the house but Mara refuses to live elsewhere. 

I had read a different book by Darcy Coates and it was just okay, but I figured I’d give another try, especially in the Halloween season. I’m glad I did and I’m even planning to read another of their haunted places books. 

This story is pretty much a stereotypical haunting. Of course it can’t be exactly who we suspect it is the whole time, but I found it to be interesting and I wasn’t bored because I couldn’t predict exactly how it would turn out. 

It also has a nice ending, which doesn’t always happen with horror books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

kaitlinlovesbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Blood, and Murder

typedtruths's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Mental illness and Injury/Injury detail