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ankysbookbubble's review against another edition
4.0
If I had to write a one sentence review, I'd say that "Return to Hiroshima is not a book you should take lightly." With scenes describing the Hiroshima-Nagasaki bomb blasts and the destruction thereof, it was a gruesome, goosebumps raising read.
I'm not much of a Historical Fiction buff, and the ones that I do read, I usually don't enjoy. But Return to Hiroshima was a welcome change, and it made me think that I just might enjoy the genre if I read books set in histories that might interest me.
I appreciated the details, since I'm completely unfamiliar with Japanese culture and geography, but sometimes, the descriptions felt like they could've been avoided.
Also, one of the characters, Xavier, was almost unrelated to the main plot, and I couldn't understand what was his role in the story. Also, his sister's death—which was a topic of suspense until the end—wasn't clarified, and it annoyed me to not know what happened.
All in all, Return to Hiroshima was gruesome, chilling and real, and I'm glad that I got a chance to read it.
I'm not much of a Historical Fiction buff, and the ones that I do read, I usually don't enjoy. But Return to Hiroshima was a welcome change, and it made me think that I just might enjoy the genre if I read books set in histories that might interest me.
I appreciated the details, since I'm completely unfamiliar with Japanese culture and geography, but sometimes, the descriptions felt like they could've been avoided.
Also, one of the characters, Xavier, was almost unrelated to the main plot, and I couldn't understand what was his role in the story. Also, his sister's death—which was a topic of suspense until the end—wasn't clarified, and it annoyed me to not know what happened.
All in all, Return to Hiroshima was gruesome, chilling and real, and I'm glad that I got a chance to read it.
kirkw1972's review against another edition
4.0
I won a copy of this book through Rafflecopter. Sometimes it's worth it to request something out of your reading comfort zone because I don't normally read noir fiction and so would have missed a really intriguing book.
It's very dark and compelling tale taking place during the 50th anniversary of Hiroshima. I don't really know much of Hiroshima beyond what I have occasionally read in newspapers or general war history books. Events of that time play a part in how the story eventually unfolds. It starts with a series of unconnected characters that slowly start to come together as the book progresses and there are so many layers to be unraveled. It definitely challenged me as a reader.
Ultimately though I enjoyed it and would recommend it to any fans of crime, thrillers and noir stories.
It's very dark and compelling tale taking place during the 50th anniversary of Hiroshima. I don't really know much of Hiroshima beyond what I have occasionally read in newspapers or general war history books. Events of that time play a part in how the story eventually unfolds. It starts with a series of unconnected characters that slowly start to come together as the book progresses and there are so many layers to be unraveled. It definitely challenged me as a reader.
Ultimately though I enjoyed it and would recommend it to any fans of crime, thrillers and noir stories.
eantoinette285's review against another edition
4.0
Return to Hiroshima is the first book I've read by author Bob Van Laerhoven and it did not disappoint. I'm extremely thankful he was kind enough to reach out and see if I would give this book a go. I just hope I do it justice in my attempt to review.
Goodness, I seriously can't think of where or how to begin. This is an intricate and very well thought out novel. Hiroshima tells the story of Japan's current culture while it somehow holds onto the past. In following several characters and their journies, we as readers get a well-rounded perception of life In Japan.
Shrouded in darkness and mystery right from page one, I was intrigued to progress through the text to see what I could uncover while somehow remaining cautious and a little timid to find out what would happen. It may be fifty years post-bombing in this novel, but the ominous feeling lingers heavily for the people in their day-to-day.
Whether I was with Mitsuko (who I really loved despite her dose of crazy) in the search for her father's identity, or Inspector Takeda going deep into Japan's corruption and underbelly during a murder investigation, Xavier and his experience with his return home after being away for some time, Rokurbei the historic demon who may have taken on human form as he wanders the streets, or Reizo and his excentricities during his time writing his novel, I was in for a dark adventure.
The characters were intricate and the plot was heavy, but because of that weight I felt as I was reading, I also felt the need to push on and learn more. There was an eerie element woven through this entire tale that seemed to leap off the page and wrap around me. Yet, I got an inside look to another angle of Japan's culture and grim history.
I loved so many things about this book. The writing was stunning and while I made my journey through a subject matter I didn't know much about, I was completely informed and entertained. While the doom and gloom may not be seen as a positive aspect of a text in many regards, for me, it was exactly that. The history mixed with fictional elements built this really intense tale that read like a solid mystery or horror novel. It had all the elements to teach you a little something while also sending chills down your spine.
There's a lot to be learned and retained from a novel like this one, and I'm glad I got a chance to read it when I may have otherwise not known about it. Bravo and kudos to Bob for being so creative and insightful and building such a fantastic yet terrifying world. What a ride!
Goodness, I seriously can't think of where or how to begin. This is an intricate and very well thought out novel. Hiroshima tells the story of Japan's current culture while it somehow holds onto the past. In following several characters and their journies, we as readers get a well-rounded perception of life In Japan.
Shrouded in darkness and mystery right from page one, I was intrigued to progress through the text to see what I could uncover while somehow remaining cautious and a little timid to find out what would happen. It may be fifty years post-bombing in this novel, but the ominous feeling lingers heavily for the people in their day-to-day.
Whether I was with Mitsuko (who I really loved despite her dose of crazy) in the search for her father's identity, or Inspector Takeda going deep into Japan's corruption and underbelly during a murder investigation, Xavier and his experience with his return home after being away for some time, Rokurbei the historic demon who may have taken on human form as he wanders the streets, or Reizo and his excentricities during his time writing his novel, I was in for a dark adventure.
The characters were intricate and the plot was heavy, but because of that weight I felt as I was reading, I also felt the need to push on and learn more. There was an eerie element woven through this entire tale that seemed to leap off the page and wrap around me. Yet, I got an inside look to another angle of Japan's culture and grim history.
I loved so many things about this book. The writing was stunning and while I made my journey through a subject matter I didn't know much about, I was completely informed and entertained. While the doom and gloom may not be seen as a positive aspect of a text in many regards, for me, it was exactly that. The history mixed with fictional elements built this really intense tale that read like a solid mystery or horror novel. It had all the elements to teach you a little something while also sending chills down your spine.
There's a lot to be learned and retained from a novel like this one, and I'm glad I got a chance to read it when I may have otherwise not known about it. Bravo and kudos to Bob for being so creative and insightful and building such a fantastic yet terrifying world. What a ride!
coffeedogsbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Return to Hiroshima
Bob Van Laerohoven
TW: Rape, infant death, abortion
Genre: Noir, Crime, Historical, Thriller,
Taking place in the mid 1990s with multiple storylines, and several plot lines that eventually come together, Return to Hiroshima is a gritty, gory, violent story showing a Japan with economic depression and a legacy of an aftermath of nuclear holocaust. This is a page turning story that while confusing at times with the rotations between characters at every chapter and multiple plots and subplots, the story still keeps the reader drawn in although there is a laundry list of triggers in this book that I have listed. This is a translation from the original text but unlike some other books I have read it isn’t blatantly obvious or obtrusive to the story. This was an engrossing (and gross, in a good way) book and I recommend it for fans of the genre.
I give this 4 of 5 stars and thank Blackthorn Book Tours and Bob Van Laerhoven for the review copy of this book.
Bob Van Laerohoven
TW: Rape, infant death, abortion
Genre: Noir, Crime, Historical, Thriller,
Taking place in the mid 1990s with multiple storylines, and several plot lines that eventually come together, Return to Hiroshima is a gritty, gory, violent story showing a Japan with economic depression and a legacy of an aftermath of nuclear holocaust. This is a page turning story that while confusing at times with the rotations between characters at every chapter and multiple plots and subplots, the story still keeps the reader drawn in although there is a laundry list of triggers in this book that I have listed. This is a translation from the original text but unlike some other books I have read it isn’t blatantly obvious or obtrusive to the story. This was an engrossing (and gross, in a good way) book and I recommend it for fans of the genre.
I give this 4 of 5 stars and thank Blackthorn Book Tours and Bob Van Laerhoven for the review copy of this book.
sometimesleelynnreads's review against another edition
3.0
Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Crime Wave Press and Blackthorn Book Tours for this free copy.
Books like this, where the setting or the content of the plot, something to do with the book basically, has some sort of meaning to me, are hard to read sometimes. I don’t even know if that sentence above made sense to me or whoever is reading this, but basically having this book take place in Hiroshima and having the main characters and some of the other characters feeling the effects of what happened back in WWII just stirred up emotions in me that I don’t always feel. For one, learning about this part of history and having family members on both sides of the war makes it difficult to be on one side or the other. I don’t think it’s even really about sides at this point, but that history hurts.
I honestly don’t think it was very clear what else happened in Japan, or even China and Korea during WWII that wasn’t widely known or told. I think we are still in the dark about a lot of the horrors that they had to face on a daily basis. So it was hard for me to read a book where one of the main plot lines dealt with experiments that were done during WWII. Even if they were real or not, if these were hidden to the point that how the world would look at both the Imperial family and society as a whole would completely change, that just sounds terrifying to me.
Now for the actual book, now that I got that part out of the way.
Something about this book was truly haunting, and I am actually really impressed and grateful that Van Laerhoven did justice to the Japanese people and culture in this novel. Coming from someone who has absolutely no Japanese blood in him, or even explicit ties, it could have been a hit or miss. This was definitely a hit, and I think he did a great job at making sure that this book didn’t become problematic with the representation.
I’m not used to crime thrillers, or ultra-noir books like this one is, so I really had to take my time with it. I had to make sure that I was understanding the subtext and the nuances that were going on in here that isn’t explicitly stated for me like I’m used to. Sure, I can deal with symbolism and foreshadowing and stuff like that, but I’m never one to be completely thrown off by the plot or a twist that comes up later on, or a direction that a book ends up taking. This was one of those where I dedicated a lot more of my time and attention to make sure that I was appreciating the book the way it was intended.
There’s always the slight chance that exploring such a dark period in history – especially since this wasn’t that far in the past – could lead to being insensitive or just portrayed disrespectfully. I think Van Laerhoven took that chance, and he did the research that he needed to, in order to ensure that he wasn’t either of those things. This was not a light read by any means, despite the short chapters. The subject is gruesome, the content is difficult, and I would say that one would need to go into this book with a clear mind, and be in the right mental mindset to deal with something like this. Now, once you do that, sit back and go through this journey. I don’t think you will regret it.
Books like this, where the setting or the content of the plot, something to do with the book basically, has some sort of meaning to me, are hard to read sometimes. I don’t even know if that sentence above made sense to me or whoever is reading this, but basically having this book take place in Hiroshima and having the main characters and some of the other characters feeling the effects of what happened back in WWII just stirred up emotions in me that I don’t always feel. For one, learning about this part of history and having family members on both sides of the war makes it difficult to be on one side or the other. I don’t think it’s even really about sides at this point, but that history hurts.
I honestly don’t think it was very clear what else happened in Japan, or even China and Korea during WWII that wasn’t widely known or told. I think we are still in the dark about a lot of the horrors that they had to face on a daily basis. So it was hard for me to read a book where one of the main plot lines dealt with experiments that were done during WWII. Even if they were real or not, if these were hidden to the point that how the world would look at both the Imperial family and society as a whole would completely change, that just sounds terrifying to me.
Now for the actual book, now that I got that part out of the way.
Something about this book was truly haunting, and I am actually really impressed and grateful that Van Laerhoven did justice to the Japanese people and culture in this novel. Coming from someone who has absolutely no Japanese blood in him, or even explicit ties, it could have been a hit or miss. This was definitely a hit, and I think he did a great job at making sure that this book didn’t become problematic with the representation.
I’m not used to crime thrillers, or ultra-noir books like this one is, so I really had to take my time with it. I had to make sure that I was understanding the subtext and the nuances that were going on in here that isn’t explicitly stated for me like I’m used to. Sure, I can deal with symbolism and foreshadowing and stuff like that, but I’m never one to be completely thrown off by the plot or a twist that comes up later on, or a direction that a book ends up taking. This was one of those where I dedicated a lot more of my time and attention to make sure that I was appreciating the book the way it was intended.
There’s always the slight chance that exploring such a dark period in history – especially since this wasn’t that far in the past – could lead to being insensitive or just portrayed disrespectfully. I think Van Laerhoven took that chance, and he did the research that he needed to, in order to ensure that he wasn’t either of those things. This was not a light read by any means, despite the short chapters. The subject is gruesome, the content is difficult, and I would say that one would need to go into this book with a clear mind, and be in the right mental mindset to deal with something like this. Now, once you do that, sit back and go through this journey. I don’t think you will regret it.
fazila's review against another edition
4.0
Check out the full review on my website. CLICK HERE
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DISCLAIMER : Thank you, Blackthorn Book tours for providing me with a review copy of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Trigger warnings: Graphic violence; distressing historical scenes including torture.
Return To Hiroshima is a dark crime thriller by Bob Van Laerhoven. I am not one to normally read dark fiction, but the synopsis sounded interesting and I wanted to try out a genre that's outside of my comfort zone. Boy oh boy !! This was one of the darkest books I have read and made me want to puke my guts out a lot of the time. That's a compliment, by the way, for the darkness factor.
The synopsis sounded like a story with multiple storylines happening parallel to one another, with all of them woven together to form a complex story. The setting of the story is Hiroshima post the second world war and the atom bomb blast. Japan is in a financial crisis, corruption has eaten away at the country, with nationalists taking the helm of the nation to purify the country. Inspector Takeda is investigating the death of the strange, deformed baby with a symbol painted at the bottom of his foot. He finds some strange happenings in another event and gets embroiled in politics that endangers his life. Japan is under the influence of an underground recluse criminal lord who is, rumored to be the incarnation of a Japanese demon, Rokurobei. He is trying to defend his empire from crumbling because of his allegedly insane daughter Mitsuko. A series of classified documents and information regarding secret experiments that were conducted on the war prisoners by the special, military unit comes to the surface, threatening to unravel the sordid past Japan's Imperial family tries to hide. And many more characters that are equally compelling and brutally raw in their stories. The sordid secrets, the fine line between fiction and truths from different versions of the same event, distinction of truths, and deception all come together in this story brilliantly to portray human nature at it's worst.
The characters were morally gray, and their pasts, motivations, and mental illness all contribute to providing the groundwork in this exploration of what human greed and personal demons can do to people who are impacted by the mutations caused by the bombings during WW2. The writing is easy to follow through with alternating small chapters of POVS from the different characters. The pacing is fast and the book is what I would call a page-turner.
Overall, I liked the idea and its execution. The author tries to bring forward a story that reminds us of Japan's history, and the sordid past Japan has when it comes to war crimes. Unmasking the horrors Japan committed during WW2 will shock and horrify the readers, and so I would say, read with caution. The darker themes explored are not light by any means, and again, I say to proceed with caution. Make sure to check out the trigger warnings before getting to this book. Having said that if you love history and historically based literary style, dark noir fiction, I highly recommend checking this one out. I gave the book 4 stars, and it was an unforgettable read. Hopefully, I won't get any nightmares.
SUBSCRIBE TO MY CHANNEL : YOUTUBE
FOLLOW ME ON : TWITTER INSTAGRAM
FR REVIEW :
DISCLAIMER : Thank you, Blackthorn Book tours for providing me with a review copy of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Trigger warnings: Graphic violence; distressing historical scenes including torture.
Return To Hiroshima is a dark crime thriller by Bob Van Laerhoven. I am not one to normally read dark fiction, but the synopsis sounded interesting and I wanted to try out a genre that's outside of my comfort zone. Boy oh boy !! This was one of the darkest books I have read and made me want to puke my guts out a lot of the time. That's a compliment, by the way, for the darkness factor.
The synopsis sounded like a story with multiple storylines happening parallel to one another, with all of them woven together to form a complex story. The setting of the story is Hiroshima post the second world war and the atom bomb blast. Japan is in a financial crisis, corruption has eaten away at the country, with nationalists taking the helm of the nation to purify the country. Inspector Takeda is investigating the death of the strange, deformed baby with a symbol painted at the bottom of his foot. He finds some strange happenings in another event and gets embroiled in politics that endangers his life. Japan is under the influence of an underground recluse criminal lord who is, rumored to be the incarnation of a Japanese demon, Rokurobei. He is trying to defend his empire from crumbling because of his allegedly insane daughter Mitsuko. A series of classified documents and information regarding secret experiments that were conducted on the war prisoners by the special, military unit comes to the surface, threatening to unravel the sordid past Japan's Imperial family tries to hide. And many more characters that are equally compelling and brutally raw in their stories. The sordid secrets, the fine line between fiction and truths from different versions of the same event, distinction of truths, and deception all come together in this story brilliantly to portray human nature at it's worst.
The characters were morally gray, and their pasts, motivations, and mental illness all contribute to providing the groundwork in this exploration of what human greed and personal demons can do to people who are impacted by the mutations caused by the bombings during WW2. The writing is easy to follow through with alternating small chapters of POVS from the different characters. The pacing is fast and the book is what I would call a page-turner.
Overall, I liked the idea and its execution. The author tries to bring forward a story that reminds us of Japan's history, and the sordid past Japan has when it comes to war crimes. Unmasking the horrors Japan committed during WW2 will shock and horrify the readers, and so I would say, read with caution. The darker themes explored are not light by any means, and again, I say to proceed with caution. Make sure to check out the trigger warnings before getting to this book. Having said that if you love history and historically based literary style, dark noir fiction, I highly recommend checking this one out. I gave the book 4 stars, and it was an unforgettable read. Hopefully, I won't get any nightmares.
armedwithabook's review against another edition
4.0
Detailed thoughts posted on Armed with A Book
I have always been fascinated by stories set in Japan and that is why I chose this book. There are a number of characters in the story, many of them with hidden identities. We start off with Mitsuko, a young woman who has run away from her home on the Hashima Island, escaping from her father. She is pregnant and does not want to lose her child. Soon after, a baby is found by the peace monument, embalmed with a chrysanthellum flower on its foot.
This is a fast-paced novel, dark, at every turn, with twists that I did not see coming. As the name suggests, the story starts to develop when Mitsuko, Xavier and Beate arrive in Hiroshima. The characters are well thought out, all of them struggling with their past. Since there are so many of them, it can be hard to keep track of them all. I actually ended up creating a mind map to represent their introductions and connections (will share that in my blog post later).
I am not quite sure why Xavier's story line was relevant in the grand scheme of things and I'm also unsatisfied by the conclusion, but over all it was a good read that kept me glued to my spot.
I am thankful to Black Thorn Book Tours for a complimentary copy of the book as part of the blog tour.
I have always been fascinated by stories set in Japan and that is why I chose this book. There are a number of characters in the story, many of them with hidden identities. We start off with Mitsuko, a young woman who has run away from her home on the Hashima Island, escaping from her father. She is pregnant and does not want to lose her child. Soon after, a baby is found by the peace monument, embalmed with a chrysanthellum flower on its foot.
This is a fast-paced novel, dark, at every turn, with twists that I did not see coming. As the name suggests, the story starts to develop when Mitsuko, Xavier and Beate arrive in Hiroshima. The characters are well thought out, all of them struggling with their past. Since there are so many of them, it can be hard to keep track of them all. I actually ended up creating a mind map to represent their introductions and connections (will share that in my blog post later).
I am not quite sure why Xavier's story line was relevant in the grand scheme of things and I'm also unsatisfied by the conclusion, but over all it was a good read that kept me glued to my spot.
I am thankful to Black Thorn Book Tours for a complimentary copy of the book as part of the blog tour.
reading_and_wheeling's review against another edition
4.0
I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
This book starts out being a little difficult to get into because it switches characters from chapter to chapter. Once you get used to it, the story really sucks you in. The plot is complex, the atmosphere is dark, and the story really shows you an in depth look inside the culture of the Japanese and how the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima affected those who lived through it and also future generations. If you're looking for a read that's out of the ordinary, that is one part literary fiction and one part mystery novel, then you should read this book.
This book starts out being a little difficult to get into because it switches characters from chapter to chapter. Once you get used to it, the story really sucks you in. The plot is complex, the atmosphere is dark, and the story really shows you an in depth look inside the culture of the Japanese and how the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima affected those who lived through it and also future generations. If you're looking for a read that's out of the ordinary, that is one part literary fiction and one part mystery novel, then you should read this book.
ashleyhubbard's review against another edition
4.0
I received a copy of Return to Hiroshima in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are, of course, my own. I’d like to thank Blackthorn Book Tours for including me on this tour.
Return to Hiroshima is a dark story that takes place during the 50th anniversary of Hiroshima. I actually don’t read a ton of crime fiction despite devouring true crime. However, I am a big “fan” of war history and was really drawn in with the synopsis of this book.
And, honestly, it’s more than just crime fiction. It’s somewhere in between crime, historical fiction, noir, literary fiction.
Starting with a series of characters that slowly come together as the book progresses, there are a lot of layers here showing a country’s horrifying past. Set in the mid-1990s, Japan’s economic depression and the history of the nuclear holocaust looms heavily.
We are given insights into Japanese society well (pretty impressively given the author is European) from what I can tell and have read.
The book is delivered in short chapters, alternating between the unique characters. This style reminded me very much of one of my favorite reads this year, There There.
It’s good that we are given these smaller pieces to bite off and chew because this is a challenging read, in a good way. It’s dark, gritty, gruesome, and not for the faint of heart. But, it’s so worth it. For something so dark, the writing is truly beautiful.
Return to Hiroshima is a dark story that takes place during the 50th anniversary of Hiroshima. I actually don’t read a ton of crime fiction despite devouring true crime. However, I am a big “fan” of war history and was really drawn in with the synopsis of this book.
And, honestly, it’s more than just crime fiction. It’s somewhere in between crime, historical fiction, noir, literary fiction.
Starting with a series of characters that slowly come together as the book progresses, there are a lot of layers here showing a country’s horrifying past. Set in the mid-1990s, Japan’s economic depression and the history of the nuclear holocaust looms heavily.
We are given insights into Japanese society well (pretty impressively given the author is European) from what I can tell and have read.
The book is delivered in short chapters, alternating between the unique characters. This style reminded me very much of one of my favorite reads this year, There There.
It’s good that we are given these smaller pieces to bite off and chew because this is a challenging read, in a good way. It’s dark, gritty, gruesome, and not for the faint of heart. But, it’s so worth it. For something so dark, the writing is truly beautiful.
ravensandlace's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
4.0
Find this review and others like it at https://aravenclawlibraryx.wordpress.com
tw: mentions of unsafe abortions, infant death, rape, graphic description of infant death, excrement, assault against women, use of word retarded
This was quite an interesting book. When I was first asked to read this book, I thought it was going to be more about the crime lords in Japan. What I got was so much more. It’s about twisted family dynamics, mental health, toxic relationships and just how far some would go to get justice. There were layers and layers to this book that I don’t think I caught the first time around. I’ll have to read this book again to really catch everything that this book had to offer.
One very prominent feature in this book is mental illness. Almost every character in the book, and believe me there was a lot, had some sort of mental illness. Some of them were more severe than others. It really made me feel quite sad for a lot of the characters. This book is a prime example of why mental health help needs to be readily available for everyone.
This book also talked a lot about the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagaski. In case you didn’t know what these bombings are, they essentially ended World War II on the Pacific theatre side. They were two huge atomic bombs that were dropped on two separate cities in Japan by the Allied powers. It caused massive amounts of casualties and damage. This book talks about the lasting effects of what those nuclear bombs caused, often physical deformities. It was pretty heart wrenching to read at times.
Like I mentioned above, I enjoyed this book. But it was a bit tricky to get into. I actually had to start over because I just couldn’t grasp what was happening. Once I did that, things made a lot more sense. The author writes beautifully. It was prosey but not quite. It was like the author put a different spin on it. One thing that really helped me out is the author put information of whose chapter it was, who was in the scene and the date. That helped quite a bit and I wish other authors would do this.
Before I wrap this review up, there are some things I need to point out. This book, like I mentioned, isn’t easy to read. Not only because it’s an adult fiction book but because of some of what is mentioned in the book. There is a fair amount of sexual activities in this book. There is a rape storyline and the rape is graphically described. There will be a trigger warning list at the top of the review, like always, but I just wanted to put in a paragraph about it.
Overall, while I struggled at the beginning of this book, I found I really enjoyed this book. I wouldn’t mind rereading it so I can catch everything the second time. I wrote in my notes that this book reminded me of a puzzle. There were a lot of pieces that you knew belonged but you just couldn’t figure out where they went until the end. I highly recommend this book but I bring that recommendation with an age limit. I think someone my age (I’m 27 years old) and a little older would enjoy this book more than someone that is younger.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Medical trauma
This book is not for people under the age of 18 years old. It is a very dark and haunting book.