Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

207 reviews

rorikae's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

'The Library at Mount Char' by Scott Hawkins is a fascinating fantasy novel with horror elements. 
Carolyn is a Librarian at the Library. She and each of her siblings have their own catalogue, or area of interest, that they study as their Father prepares them for their role in life. To move further forward on their paths, they have to head out and interact with Americans to tackle the challenges coming their way. Steve, who is trying to lead a normal life, is pulled into Carolyn (and the Library's) schemes and it will change the course of his life. 
This is such a hard book to describe. It's weird and incredibly unique. There are a number of horrific elements, especially surrounding how different characters treat one another. It's fantasy but it is also very squarely set in a version of the United States that resembles our own. I do think it is best to go into this novel knowing next to nothing as the story unfolds. Everything wrapped up really well at the end, which helped to boost how I felt about it because during the reading process it seemed to drag at points. For a section of the story, I really didn't care about Steve or understand why we were spending so much time with him. This is revealed later and made sense but it didn't stop the middle section of the novel from dragging out what felt like could have been a much quicker process. And yet, I do think it all works together. I think this is a great book for a book club because there is a lot to discuss. If Scott Hawkins writes another book in the future, I will definitely be interested in picking it up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Drug use, Rape, and Sexual violence

Minor: Car accident and Death of parent

scifi_rat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Homophobia, Car accident, Outing, and Pandemic/Epidemic

alyssathinkstoomuch's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

This is the only book I've ever read that actually feels like a Locked Tomb comp title (Nona specifically).  What a ride. Dark, bizarre, I did cry at the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, and Sexual violence

halebop's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious 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

4.5

I really enjoyed this book. It is NOT for the faint of heart- heed the CWs. But I loved the mystery of it and found the revenge plot very satisfying. It also had some amazing and funny side characters who were genuinely good people. The MC is pretty amoral but I rooted for her anyway. The worldbuilding was cool, although we never really get explanations of how it all worked. Very vivid characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, and Suicide

rmantelli's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

whosjessanyway's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

4.5

This was such a WILD ride. A lot of violence that feels unnecessary at times (especially towards animals), but also the whole plot is so surrealistic that somehow it kind of doesn't feel out of place? Weird to put into words.

Overall, very unique concept, well written, things tie together very nicely at the end in a way that felt quite satisfying. I understand how this might not work for everyone, but it did work for me.

Are you a Buddhist?
No. I'm an asshole. But I keep trying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicide

errie's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

katclaybaugh's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Child death

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

tobeseve's review against another edition

4.0

This is one of those books where everyone is scheming against each other, culminating into a really satisfying ending once you find out everyone’s plan and how they all played into each others’, some more successfully than others. I’ll be honest, the middle was really difficult for me to get through, not because it was bad but because it was just A Lot. There’s a lot of violence and death against specifically pet dogs, so if that’s a turn off for you I’d say skip this one. If it’s not, I think it’s worth reading.

I really like reading characters who are smarter than me, and I think this book pulls off its plot really well. The characters are also all pretty great. I think if I read content warnings for this book I wouldn’t have read it, but I’m glad I did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death