Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Penpal by Dathan Auerbach

80 reviews

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.

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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

ans_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, and Blood

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 

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Content Warnings

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

hue's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad

3.0

A bit predictable and slightly overdramatic at times. The dragging on of certain sentences to "build tension" (I'm assuming) was just annoying. Come to the point.

Otherwise it was an interesting story, and though it jumped a bit strange at times I liked that it was him looking back at his childhood and how strange things then seemed even stranger now. I'd say it's still more sad than it is scary, but I enjoyed it regardless.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Blood, Stalking, Car accident, and Murder

haleyhorrorshow's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Stalking

Moderate: Animal death and Dementia

Minor: Pedophilia

ninasloft'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Grief, and Stalking

Moderate: Dementia

Minor: Animal death and Vomit

rubys100's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death

Moderate: Animal death and Pedophilia

To be honest this book was not anywhere near as scary as was promised. However

the ending was utterly bleak and heartbreaking

darkdahlia9's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

YALL. This book was a goddamn doozy. 

I knew sort of the themes in this book, and how this was originally short stories published on an online forum so I was concerned that the timelines/narration would be really choppy and it kind of was- but it WORKED for this. 

This book is the type of horror where it’s scary because it’s so real. There’s no supernatural creature, there’s no ghost or demon, there’s none of that. There’s just pure childhood purity turned to terror that the MC doesn’t realize until he talks to his mom as an adult. 

The way this book is set up is in non-linear events that take place during his childhood, and he navigates them with an adult mindset and which new knowledge that he obtains later, and the way the chapters/stories are laid out, you get to puzzle it together along with the MC which I feel like really helped create the really disturbing and unsettling revelations. 

The way the author adapted the short stories had me GLUED to the pages and my jaw dropped a few times. I’d absolutely recommend this to anyone who wants horror that will genuinely unsettle you, and have you looking behind yourself while walking alone in the woods.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Pedophilia, and Stalking

Moderate: Animal death and Violence

sp00ky_girl28's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I really enjoyed this book! Such a gutwrenching read that made me feel so disturbed and angry. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep for a while 😅

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Stalking

Moderate: Animal death, Dementia, and Kidnapping

Minor: Bullying, Pedophilia, and Murder

laneychaney's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

So disappointing. Some parts were creepy but nothing scary. The writing was simple and easy to get through. I liked the idea of different memories/stories that tie together…but the end was so bad and rushed and made no sense. It was almost silly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Stalking

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death