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theaceofpages's review against another edition
dark
emotional
fast-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? Yes
4.25
Imagine every fleeting intrusive thought you had came true around you. This is Karina's reality. Even something as small as wishing for a second that her neighbour would hang himself when he made her mad comes to pass. After her family experiences an accident she starts spiralling and chasing the shadows around her as she looks for answers and an escape from the excess of dark that seems to fill her.
While this story probably won't be scary to most people in the traditional sense of the word, it is definitely incredibly creepy and horrifying in other ways. As someone who does suffer from mental health issues, the author does an incredible job of capturing the horrors that can go on in your head. And how much worse things get when they start to win.
The book starts off a bit slow but I decided to keep going and I quickly got pulled into the madness and the darkness. I kept finding myself questioning what was and wasn't real, particularly as things were getting started and especially withher mother's guilt tripping and blame game type behaviour . I guess those questions never really went away but they definitely got overshadowed by the unease at the very least.
If a book about the horrors that mental illness and grief can cause sounds intriguing to you, I can definitely recommend this one. It may be short, but it hits hard. Just please be careful if you struggle from mental health issues yourself since it really does get rather dark!
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions are my own.
While this story probably won't be scary to most people in the traditional sense of the word, it is definitely incredibly creepy and horrifying in other ways. As someone who does suffer from mental health issues, the author does an incredible job of capturing the horrors that can go on in your head. And how much worse things get when they start to win.
The book starts off a bit slow but I decided to keep going and I quickly got pulled into the madness and the darkness. I kept finding myself questioning what was and wasn't real, particularly as things were getting started and especially with
If a book about the horrors that mental illness and grief can cause sounds intriguing to you, I can definitely recommend this one. It may be short, but it hits hard. Just please be careful if you struggle from mental health issues yourself since it really does get rather dark!
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gore, Grief, Mental illness, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Car accident, Child death, Terminal illness, Death, and Sexual content
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Alcohol, Child abuse, Cursing, and Drug use
Emotional abandonment. Also moderate Toxic Parentvildfarenraev's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Thank you to NetGalley and DarkLit Press for the digital advanced reader copy of this novella. This in no way influences my opinions.
While this book was far from perfect, it wormed its way into my brain in that sick and wonderful way that only horror can.
This was a difficult little book to get through, but that's not a bad thing. There is a primary focus on handling grief as well as the weight of struggling with intrusive thoughts. There is a level of paranoia and superstition, compulsions, that come with the sort of thoughts that Karina struggles with that are very real for people managing life with mental illness. Reading about that sort of thing got more than a little upsetting at times, but because I could relate.
At first I had a hard time gelling with the story. The third-person POV felt like it was meant to be written as first-person but was changed at the last second, and I wasn't sure where the story itself was going. However, I then saw someone else compare it to Final Destination and things clicked in a far more enjoyable way.
I feel the point of the story is how destructive it is to hide and bottle feelings inside as well as making the very clear statement that just because someone has intrusive thoughts, it does not mean that they are a bad person.
As I said, this book isn't perfect, but it has heart and a vulnerability that I have a great respect for.
While this book was far from perfect, it wormed its way into my brain in that sick and wonderful way that only horror can.
This was a difficult little book to get through, but that's not a bad thing. There is a primary focus on handling grief as well as the weight of struggling with intrusive thoughts. There is a level of paranoia and superstition, compulsions, that come with the sort of thoughts that Karina struggles with that are very real for people managing life with mental illness. Reading about that sort of thing got more than a little upsetting at times, but because I could relate.
At first I had a hard time gelling with the story. The third-person POV felt like it was meant to be written as first-person but was changed at the last second, and I wasn't sure where the story itself was going. However, I then saw someone else compare it to Final Destination and things clicked in a far more enjoyable way.
I feel the point of the story is how destructive it is to hide and bottle feelings inside as well as making the very clear statement that just because someone has intrusive thoughts, it does not mean that they are a bad person.
As I said, this book isn't perfect, but it has heart and a vulnerability that I have a great respect for.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Murder, Emotional abuse, Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, Gore, Gaslighting, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent
chrissypops's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A disturbingly good decent into death, grief and madness. It makes you itch from the inside as it taps into some deep seated angst surrounding intrusive and catastrophic thought processes. While grief and loss is a painful process. This book taps into the unfound depths of something dark and sinister.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts
kristienlovewithhorror's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
"That's the thing about parenting-by the time you figure out what you've done wrong, it's too late."
This quote resonated with me most as a parent. The most intriguing thing about this story is the tether between Karina and Xander.
TW: suicidal thoughts, grief, depression
If you're looking for a quick, creepy, gory read, this is a good start.
Karina is a wife and a mother trying to be diligent in those roles by ignoring the darkness that is within her. She imagines dark things and they seem to come true for her because she wills them to. Everyone around her sees her darkness by tries to pretend it's not there.
This book is a great introduction to the darker, more gorier types of stories. There are a few scenes that are quite mild but others, not so much. (IYKYK)
Karina is facing some dark stuff and I empathized with her. I also liked her friend, Clara, who did her best to support her through her darkest moments. Clara, who is Black and queer, was written well and I appreciated that a lot!
I think this works great as a short story and could've been a few pages shorter. There were some moments where things were repeated or scenes that seemed added in/drawn out unnecessarily that don't add to the overall story. I would've appreciated more depth in Xander and Gavin's characters just to give more insight into the dynamics between them and Karina.
Overall, I thought this was a great story to highlight things like grief and depression and how it can be a looming force that slowly creeps in and takes over our lives.
This quote resonated with me most as a parent. The most intriguing thing about this story is the tether between Karina and Xander.
TW: suicidal thoughts, grief, depression
If you're looking for a quick, creepy, gory read, this is a good start.
Karina is a wife and a mother trying to be diligent in those roles by ignoring the darkness that is within her. She imagines dark things and they seem to come true for her because she wills them to. Everyone around her sees her darkness by tries to pretend it's not there.
This book is a great introduction to the darker, more gorier types of stories. There are a few scenes that are quite mild but others, not so much. (IYKYK)
Karina is facing some dark stuff and I empathized with her. I also liked her friend, Clara, who did her best to support her through her darkest moments. Clara, who is Black and queer, was written well and I appreciated that a lot!
I think this works great as a short story and could've been a few pages shorter. There were some moments where things were repeated or scenes that seemed added in/drawn out unnecessarily that don't add to the overall story. I would've appreciated more depth in Xander and Gavin's characters just to give more insight into the dynamics between them and Karina.
Overall, I thought this was a great story to highlight things like grief and depression and how it can be a looming force that slowly creeps in and takes over our lives.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, and Child death
aedoran08's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Death, Gore, Grief, Child death, and Mental illness
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
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