Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Sour Candy by Kealan Patrick Burke

18 reviews

cheyrohm's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Blood, and Murder

bashsbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Sour Candy was a fun and eerie short story. I enjoyed the more mundane aspects - in initial interaction at the store, the car accident, the discussion with the detectives - the most. When it edged into more direct eldritch horror, I found that I liked it a little less - the writing style (which is inverted in a way I find hard to describe) is better suited to the mundane.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Gaslighting, Car accident, and Death

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Child death

Minor: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Suicide

acnienow's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death

franzys_whip's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Murder, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Car accident, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Cursing

Moderate: Death of parent, Abandonment, and Eating disorder

Minor: Pregnancy

ilaxaria's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Suicide, Gaslighting, Murder, and Child death

Moderate: Car accident, Sexual content, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Violence, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Fatphobia

teaselkie's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Car accident

Moderate: Blood, Suicide, and Alcohol

Minor: Domestic abuse

emilunax's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Suicide, Car accident, Child death, and Death

gssll_lpz's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Car accident, Child death, Abandonment, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

rachelunabridged's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Blood, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Car accident

winterdevil's review against another edition

dark funny tense fast-paced

5.0

A horror novella about a man named Phil who comes across a kid throwing a temper tantrum in a Walmart. The kid offers him a piece of sour candy, and he takes it to be polite, and next thing you know that kid is in his house, calling him daddy. His entire past and present have been rewritten so that everything points to him having a kid he KNOWS he doesn't have.

Also, the kid is creepy as hell, and Phil becomes a prisoner in his new life.

I suspected this book would be fire from the beginning, and I'm glad to say it exceeded expectations. It has a creepy child, eldritch beings, body horror (cw if you have a thing about teeth falling out), and such impressive, palpable tension packed into just 107 pages. Definitely will read more from this author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Child death, Death, Gaslighting, Body horror, Car accident, Confinement, Murder, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury