Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

18 reviews

sam_uel_c's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Animal death, Torture, Blood, Death, Violence, War, Animal cruelty, and Gore

Moderate: Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Child abuse

Minor: Pedophilia and Homophobia

queenshrike's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Animal death, Grief, War, Child death, Torture, Blood, Death, Death of parent, and Violence

marinasjd's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring lighthearted mysterious tense 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? Yes

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Violence

hollyn_middle's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

1.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Child death

Minor: Pedophilia and Homophobia

saskiajva's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Vomit, Grief, Murder, War, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Homophobia

val_theburrowofstories's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cannibalism, Blood, Chronic illness, Grief, Murder, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Death, Child death, Mental illness, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Gore, Cancer, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Sexual harassment

I'm not used to reading dark stories, so to me this was very VERY DARK. Please check all the warnings before reading this book.

loquitacass's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Body horror, Animal death, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Child abuse, Child death, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Medical trauma and Mental illness

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

tigerhae's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

It had a slow start and was rather predictable at times, but flew much quicker once the real adventure started. I really enjoyed the way that the different classic fairytales were woven into his journey. However, there were a few things that I found immediate problems with while reading. 

My main issue was the portrayal of Roland’s sexuality. I do get how David’s initial about it being “unnatural” may fit into the WWII time period, but its use in the story still felt… off. Especially how Roland’s love for his “friend” is quickly used to insinuating that him being gay must that he must also harbor  inappropriate feelings for David, a literal CHILD! It all felt very unnecessary and made me pity Roland’s character in a way that I don’t feel was the author’s intention.

Another issue I found  was

David’s OCD just magically disappearing after one nice chat with the Woodsman. From the very beginning I thought that was such an interesting addition to his character, only for it to be quickly written away/cured once he entered Elsewhere! I just feel like it could have been included more throughout his journey.

I also found myself agreeing with other reviews about the randomness of the WWII setting or David’s fluctuating maturity level and how he oftentimes seemed unrealistic as a young boy, but I didn’t think about those things while I was actually reading, so much as after I finished and looked back. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Violence, War, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, and Animal death

Minor: Pedophilia, Vomit, and Homophobia

neni's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I enjoyed the imagery and the writing style. The fairy tale vibes gone darker were quite well done. I didn't particularly care about the main character but the plot itself followed a path that made sense for a "fairy tale" type story, and these stories normally don't have main characters that are that complex and well developed anyways.
 I really liked how dark the fairy tale retellings were and it was nice to see the main character's relationships with other people develop as he "grew up". The depiction of grief and overall of negative emotions in the eyes of the main character was also fascinating. 
Overall a cool book, a great choice if you're into fairy tales and spooky stuff.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Animal cruelty, War, Terminal illness, Murder, Blood, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Cancer

Minor: Homophobia

chloemakesbooks's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

Deliciously scary, delightfully fantastic, solidly grounded in real appreciation for and understanding of fairy tales, this coming of age story made my heart ache and leap and pound.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Violence, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Body horror, and Child death

Moderate: Chronic illness, Cancer, and Injury/Injury detail