Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Forgotten Island by David Sodergren

7 reviews

allly_x's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.5

 In theory, this book has all the characteristics that check my boxes for a good horror. There are cosmic horror elements, gore, and suspense. However, it falls short in many areas.

I'll start with the things that I did like—spoilers ahead.

As I said, the cosmic horror element was exciting and almost well done. I liked that the monster was something you could harm but ultimately could not "kill"; you could just get rid of a single representation of it. I also liked that it doesn't have a happy ending, which, although it made for a somewhat predictable conclusion, was the only ending that made any kind of sense.

The final thing I enjoyed was the complicated relationship between the two sisters. Even though there was obvious tension between them, you as a reader are never made to question their love and care for one another. This was very refreshing considering the characters themselves and the other characters in the story, which I might as well get into.

Now, for the things I absolutely did not enjoy or understand the need for:

Why is every man a shitbag rapist in this? With only a single exception, every guy in this story is just the worst. The author couldn't even make the fake-spiritual hippie a non-rapist, at the very least. I honestly don't get how that advanced the plot in any way, and it was way over the top. It read too much like a stupid horror movie with an excessive sexualization of the characters that was also not needed at all, in my opinion.

There were plot points that went nowhere. For example, why was Ana seeing things? Why was her trying to kill herself at all relevant? It didn't help with making her character better, in my opinion, so why? Why was there such an emphasis on Ana's weight? Make her insecure—sure. Note that her sister is more attractive than her—still irrelevant, since there was no obvious rivalry between them and it wouldn't have made a big difference otherwise. But okay, so why the weight thing? All of it seemed pointless to me.

My last issue is that it felt like I was reading a man's POV with all of the characters. The female POVs did not feel authentic to me, and yes, granted, the author is male, but still, it made it that much more difficult to immerse myself in the story.

To wrap it up, I didn't DNF solely because I wanted to know what the monster looked like and if it would further disappoint with a happy ending (luckily, that is one sin it did not commit).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder

readerfromtheblacklagoon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Excrement, Medical content, and Stalking

frankieatthedisco's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent

racheltheripper's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Interesting premise that is mostly well executed, but falls short in making me care about any of the characters. Maybe that was the point? Some actions and thoughts from characters seemed outlandish, though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder

Arachbophobes beware!

connie29's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, Excrement, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Vomit, Grief, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

stephanieluxton's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

There were some genuinely scary parts to this book and I found the setting and creatures to be quite interesting. It was a bit more complex than I imagined it would be. I wish I had felt more connected to the characters - I didn't find any of them to be particularly likeable. All the men were incredibly misogynistic, which was disappointing. All the women had a lot of baggage - none of the characters were happy people, which isn't a bad thing by default but I didn't feel empowered by them. They all had solid potential for good characters arcs but the book was too short to give it to them. There were some pretty horrific injuries in the book and the characters seemed like they just shook it off to easily, which is a pet peeve of mine. Sometimes I stub my toe and feel like I can't walk - these characters are getting a severe burn or a deep bite and they just carry on like it's nothing. The setting itself could have been more of a challenge for the characters than it was. I didn't feel the isolation and wildness. I think I'm mad because it was so close to greatness and it lost me in the nitty gritty details. The antagonists were fun. It's still worth a read. The pace is fast so it makes for a good beach read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Vomit, and Death of parent

a_novel_craving's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Self harm, Sexual assault, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Sexual harassment