Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Laws of the Skies by Grégoire Courtois

43 reviews

charmarie's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

cwiita's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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? Yes

3.75

Bordered on feeling unrealistic in the sense that the verbal communication and (hopefully) barbarity of children has its limits, but usually managed to turn the worst moments into something worthwhile.
I find the perspective interesting, mainly the way that Courtois acknowledged and discusses children’s realities and fears through the language and context of adult understandings. 
Initially I struggled to grasp the timeline and the way our focus as an audience shifts so frequently, but eventually I realized how important it was to the film-like pacing and building of suspense. 
It made for a very interesting read, with some decent gore.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, and Excrement

Minor: Stalking

mblanke's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? Yes

1.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

if you can suspend your belief and just enjoy this gory and unrealistic lord of the flies parody, this isn’t a bad book. a lot of it is implausible but if you can look past that and just read, this is fine.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

thebookcloser's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book was everything I imagined and more. 😍 If you loved Lord of the Flies, this book is your gold mine. LOTS is a modern take on this classic but I would say the darker, adult version. 

I saw many reviews on Goodreads that poorly rated this book because you had to “suspend your disbelief.” This is a true horror book in every form and those that rated based on that missed the point of this book. 

For another reader to get the same “wow” factor it gave me.. I can’t spoil, but if this book peaks your interest know the themes are deep and they are the biggest takeaway from the story which is why I picked it up to begin with. 🖤

Lastly, the writing style is unique. There is no “chapters,” there are obvious “breaks.” POVs would jump sometimes between paragraphs but it became easy to follow once I understood. I actually enjoyed it. 😊

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty

potassiumk's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

stephyloveshorror's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.75

This book follows several 6 year old children going on a wilderness weekend camping trip, along with their teacher and 2 parents. When one child becomes sinister threat to the camp, the children run through the woods alone being hunted. 

This book is heartbreaking and full existential dread. Check trigger warnings. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Vomit, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

rhysied's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

itsjustgrumpy's review against another edition

dark emotional sad

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

4.25

Winnie the Pooh meets The Troop (minus the monster). It was heartbreaking but also surprisingly heartfelt at times. You couldn't help but feel for all of the characters, even Enzo, in the end.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Stalking

telliot's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this book, it was a short read that i didnt want to put down. The writing was pretty bad in some places, but maybe that was due to the translation. I kept screaming at the kids in my head because of the decisions they made and had to remind myself that they're just kids.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Excrement and Vomit