Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Whisper Man by Alex North

17 reviews

haileyhardcover's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Holy crap this book was CHILLING. A serial killer who goes after kids is always going to be especially horrific, but North did an incredible job building up the anxiety as you realize the real horror of the situation at the same time as the characters do. There’s a really interesting supernatural element to the story (or, is there?) but by and large it is, unfortunately, an entirely plausible story which makes it all the more terrifying. At the end of one chapter in particular, my heart was beating out of my chest! No book has ever scared me like this one did. 

There are also several reveals throughout the course of the story. Though a couple seemed a little obvious to me, there was one specific one where my jaw very literally, almost comically, DROPPED.

There are also deeper tones to The Whisper Man. Beyond the thrills and the horror, the story examines the complexity of father-son relationships from multiple, vastly different angles. It also does a great job of portraying the on-going battle of addition recovery (specifically alcoholism, but I think the portrayal would translate well to any addiction) and what the daily struggle to remain sober can look like for many. 

I am giving this book five stars because, at the end of the day, it has accomplished what no book ever REALLY has and legitimately scared me, so it feels deserved; but I don’t think I would say it’s perfect. Listen, I award my stars how I want to. Deal with it! 

The story jumps between five different points of view, which can be a little confusing at times, especially when you’re not always immediately sure whose point of view you’re reading. One point of view is Jake’s, and it did occur to me as I was reading that I don’t think North accounted for how differently a child might think and process these situations. There was a point when it was acknowledged that Jake had a better grasp on vocabulary than most other kids his age, which I think was a way of addressing this disparity, but it felt a little off to me. I also felt like the book had a slower start. While the first chapter gets your blood pumping, it slows down pretty considerably and for quite a few chapters after that. It’s all important story building, but the first third of the book or so is a little slow. Still, the chapters are short (often 3-4 pages!) so it is an easy one to binge and get through pretty quick! 

If you have children or kiddos that you love in your life, keep in mind that this one is going to be a tough and terrifying read, but it is still really good and I absolutely recommend it. It’s one that is going to sit with me… probably forever. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Sexism, Terminal illness, and Abandonment

oliviaannebennett's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, and Physical abuse

Minor: Emotional abuse

nicoletiff's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

e11iphant's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Bullying

an adult male stalker towards young boys about 6-7

ravenpuff's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

livlamentloathe's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Kidnapping, and Stalking

Moderate: Child death, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Bullying and Violence

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

This book was fine. I saw it over the book/thriller side of the internet and everyone was raving about it. Saying how scary it was and how the twist was good and how this book messed with your head and whatnot. I enjoy a good thriller so I picked it up. And after finishing this book I'm so confused as to how anything was shocking. There were a few scary parts, but other than that I really didn't see how this book garner so much allure. Based on what I've heard I expected this book to be much scarier than what was actually presented so therefore I was highly disappointed when I got to the end and nothing crazy really happened. I also found it disappointing how this story centers around a copycat of the Whisper Man murders instead of just creating a story around the original homicides. 

Literally the kid gets abducted around the 75% page mark, around page 280, and then rescued about 40 pages later. And the killer being the son of the former killer is a very common twist that has been used a plethora of times so I'm surprised how many people claimed they were shocked by it. Also, I think the real mystery should've been how this kid is able to communicate with "spirits". It's low-key confirmed that he can talk to spirits considering he knew something only his dead grandfather could know. We never find out how or why this happens and are just supposed to roll with it. Also, that woman being a reporter the whole time still didn't sit right with me. Can't believe Tom went out with her after that.

Overall it was an okay book. I read it pretty quickly. If you're just starting to get into horror books and you don't like scary stuff at all then I recommend this one, because there wasn't really much spooky behavior going on. Oh and also what annoyed me the most was that the reader would get no warning of when POVs switched. So starting the chapters I would get confused on who's perspective we were in sometimes, so be prepared for that if you choose to read this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, and Cursing

mysterymom40's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Bullying

shanekate's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.5

Pros: fast paced, scary, does not have an idiotic “twist” that ruins the whole book. 
Cons: Female characters almost nonexistent, writing was mediocre, audiobook was also meh

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer and Cannibalism

collinsd's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Grief, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying and Cancer