Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw

24 reviews

anarchist_al's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

A pretty disorienting read—we begin with a narrator whose storyline is simply abandoned for basically the rest of the book. It eventually makes sense, but was kind of a head scratcher for the majority of the book. I really liked the setting of Pastoral, with beautiful descriptions of trees and forest and darkness. I was really intrigued by Travis’s ability to read after images of an object’s history, and was disappointed that it wasn’t explored or explained more. It was very very light magical realism. Also,

the idea of a charismatic cult leader works really well, and that he could lead a community to believe existential falsehoods is totally realistic. However, the whole thing being hypnosis was kind of a stretch. If it had been another bit of magical realism special ability thing, I would have liked it more and it would have mirrored Travis/Theo’s ability.

Overall, cool concept and setting, cool mystery, interesting characters—an entertaining listen. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Torture

princessnomi's review

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Alcoholism

anni_swanilda's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Suicide

sydoodle's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

gm_vak's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Violence, Ableism, Infidelity, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Torture, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, and Medical trauma

tamara_joy's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

As the back cover says, "a riveting, atmospheric thriller" is right.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Pregnancy, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Death

Minor: Alcoholism, Gun violence, and Fire/Fire injury

ehm's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, and Suicide

brittishliterature's review

dark emotional mysterious relaxing tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Wow, this book wasn't quite what I expected and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was hesitant to read it, but I'd seen good reviews and wanted to branch out a bit from my usual genres. This was an atmospheric, emotional, reflective, slow-paced thriller set in a rural/forest landscape. At first, I was worried it might get too creepy/disturbing for me, but it never did and I liked that (I'm not much for media that leaves me scared to be home alone at night in the dark or constantly thinking someone's gonna be in my house to murder me lol).

It was dark and twisty with a touch of magical realism and beautiful imagery. I thought some of the plot twists were more clarifying than shocking but still very good. I enjoyed the flow of the narrative and where the journey took me as a reader from beginning to end. I definitely would recommend this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Gaslighting

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Infidelity, and Medical content

Minor: Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, and Suicide

elliez's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

4.0

Review to come after I process my thoughts on the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pregnancy, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Gun violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexual content

bandysbooks's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

A missing person mystery with magical realism and descriptive literary writing? Sign me up immediately.

The plot of this story isn't the most revolutionary. An author goes missing after a trip into the woods. A private investigator with supernatural abilities is sent out to find her. What follows is a beautifully written, winding story of her disappearance. There are plot twists, most of which I could easily predict, but it kept me entertained.

The main characters are all relatively interesting. Travis, the investigator, has the ability to see past memories when he touches things. Maggie St. James left behind some creepy children's books. And as we meet the members of Pastoral, we slowly are introduced to several charismatic characters as well. (Don't want to say much more because of spoilers)

What made this book so magical was the writing. It is simply gorgeous. It was such a vivid and visceral experience. I could imagine every scene in great detail. There was a magical quality to it all, even as the plot started to get darker. Atmospheric. Eerie. At times creepy. It's just the perfect mix. 

All in all, if you like mystery, magical realism, and literary fiction, I think this just may be the book for you! It was definitely my favorite read in January. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Murder, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, and Violence