Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Penpal by Dathan Auerbach

40 reviews

lady_grey_with_honey's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-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? No

5.0

This horror story is narrated by a young man who is reflecting back on many strange occurrences from his childhood. In each of the six chapters, he lays out some significant experience, based on what he remembers, starting in kindergarten and progressing through his teen years. These glimpses into his coming-of-age begin innocently - with a school project or an activity with a friend - and slowly ramp up to something terrifying, but inexplicable. He eventually enlists the help of his mother to piece it all together - the truth of what was really happening all those years is devastating. This story was originally released in sections on the r/nosleep forum on Reddit and adapted for The NoSleep Podcast. Fans loved it so much that the author launched an extremely successful Kickstarter to self-publish it as a novel in 2012. I loved it too and stayed up too late some nights because I couldn't put it down. The only reason that I didn't give this a full 5 stars was because the very end of the book became a bit confusing in a few ways. I finished in astonishment and then spent an hour on Reddit threads reading long discussions about the ending in order to make sure I wasn't missing something.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Kidnapping, and Grief

g_xandra's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

2.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Animal death, Gore, Blood, and Stalking

Minor: Medical content and Injury/Injury detail

lugosi147's review against another edition

challenging 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

5.0

This book is deeply deeply scary and tense at times and so deeply deeply tragic in others.  The author has a knack for crafting horror and pathos into an incredibly paced narrative.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

one boy’s friendship damns his friend’s entire family

madelinequinnee's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Wow, this book has left me absolutely broken. I had no idea what to expect going into this as I knew it was best to go in blind from the recommendations i’d seen online, and i’m so glad i did because this was one of the most incredibly sad horror stories i’ve ever read. 

The horror was so effective in such a ambiguous way, it didn’t rely on shock value or gore, it was all in the atmosphere and the unknown of what was happening, and I think it was so cleverly written. 

This story will stick with me for a long time 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

limina's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.5

 This book is a slow burn, so be patient. It was originally serialized on the Reddit forum r/nosleep, which lends to the narrative feeling different than average, mainstream published books. I originally listened to this on the NoSleep podcast, so it was interesting to revisit the story in a different format. 
 This story does the backwards-forwards in time format, which at times I did find hard to follow; I think it feels what way because it was originally serialized. Each chapter is likely each entry in the series. The story itself mostly covers the narrator's childhood and unsettling things that happened to him. I will say that I found adding content warnings to this, so I'll throw in an obscured description. All in all, be patient. The end is stomach churning and breathtaking.
 

The main character is stalked by an unknown man for a number of years. It is understood that the man is a pedophile but no sexual acts ever take place. All the same, it's very upsetting, especially when all is revealed.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Stalking, Car accident, and Murder

Minor: Bullying and Grief

madfromonline's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? No

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Violence, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

b0gd0g's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Stalking, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Pedophilia, and Kidnapping

samantha914's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Grief, and Car accident

Minor: Bullying and Fatphobia

itsjustgrumpy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

Utterly heart broken. Tense, and emotional. Auerbach gives you the pieces of the puzzle to put together yourself, each one more horrifying than the last. The final picture is harrowing. What a read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, Stalking, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Dementia and Trafficking

Minor: Vomit

amandalove2bme's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail