Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Boys In the Valley by Philip Fracassi

10 reviews

jesssicawho's review

dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

Lord of the Flies meets The Exorcist. This was creepy and weird and would make a great movie. My one complaint is that it doesn't touch upon the origin or desires of the evil/demon (other than wreaking havoc and mayhem). That felt very surface level - evil for the sake of being evil. 

I was impressed by how well written some of the characters were. They felt multi-layered and empathetic, even if (some) were despicable. The ending was touching.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Murder, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence

killmoore_'s review

dark sad tense 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

5.0

I could not have loved this more. Truly terrifying, and at times completely gut wrenching. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Violence, Religious bigotry, Torture, and Vomit

purstiltski's review

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Very violent, with a lil philosophy on humanity and good and evil. I really enjoyed the writing and sometimes just stopped to appreciate a good sentence (whether actually pleasant... or visceral and gross). 

"His smile wavers, and for a moment he thinks the boy's face flickers, becomes indistinct, as if covered in gray mold. But then the face returns, and he's just a boy again. Or what was one."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Blood, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Minor: Bullying

apersonfromflorida's review

dark emotional tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Body horror, Animal death, Bullying, and Grief

Minor: Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Confinement

kermit_the_wrong's review

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Violence, Blood, Grief, Gore, Murder, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, and Torture

lbsalas's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Torture, Confinement, Animal death, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Murder, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

cantfindmybookmark's review

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.75

Let me tell you, this book was legitimately scary. I have a pretty high threshold for horror and I had to set this book down a few times. That’s not to say the horror and gore are exorbitant or there just for shock value (though there is shock value). Everything in this book felt intentional and necessary for the story. 

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: St. Vincent’s Orphanage for Boys, rural Pennsylvania, turn of the century, winter. 

𝟓-𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: The Exorcist meets Lord of the Flies (I did not come up with this, so saw it online)

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐥𝐨𝐭: Late at night a group of men arrive at this orphanage, which houses roughly 30 boys and is run by Catholic priests. One of the late night arrivals is badly injured, with occult symbols carved into his body and something evil carved into his soul. When he dies, that evil does not die with him but is instead released on the orphanage. Chaos and horror ensue. 

If you’re into scary reads I highly recommend this one, but do check trigger warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Blood, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

natashaleighton_'s review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-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

4.5

Drenched in blood, occultism and claustrophobic levels of suspense and paranoia, Philip Fracassi’s Boys In The Valley was soo spine-chillingly creepy I’ve literally been forced to sleep with the lights on! 

I’m not usually a huge horror reader (I’m actually a huge scaredy cat when it comes to anything remotely creepy) but when I saw this described as The Exorcist meets Lord of The Flies I couldn’t resist checking this out—and I’m soo glad I did.

It’s set in 1905 in a remote boys orphanage (St Vincent’s) in Pennsylvania, and follows 16 year old Peter, the ever watchful priests and fellow orphans who learn, work and worship until old enough to leave—or like Peter, train to become priests themselves. 

Only, one stormy night, a badly wounded man with occultist sigils carved into him is brought onto the grounds (in hopes of saving him.) Unfortunately he dies— releasing an evil that begins to infect the residents of St. Vincent’s Orphanage, causing groups to form… leading to people turning up dead. Now Peter must choose a side, for his very life (and the lives of the children around him) are at risk…

The writing was phenomenally suspenseful and soo viscerally descriptive that I felt truly immersed (and terrified!) Not only by the demon possession/ slasher aspects of the plot, but by the sheer hopelessness we see these boys forced to endure, beaten and starved into submission.

Honestly, I was kind of an emotional mess before anything even remotely Exorcist-y  even took place. Philip Fracassi does give us just enough time to start getting attached to these characters—before promptly throwing us into the emotional deep end to watch as the chaos inevitably unfolds. 

And unfold it does, with one of the most brutal and viscerally gory scenes I’ve ever read. The creeping sense of dread also doesn’t really let up either and, with a Lord of The Flies-style mentality taking shape, absolutely no one is guaranteed safety. 

I also really enjoyed the use of multiple POVs as it really helped to get into the minds of—as well as understand—the emotions and thought processes of our characters (specifically Peter, David, Johnson and Father Andrew.) 

As I said before, I’m not usually a Horror reader so my frame of reference is pretty small. But, if you love folksy, rural horror with as much character development as there is blood soaked action, then you don’t want to miss this heart-poundingly terrifying story. 

As always, given the themes and content of the book, readers should definitely check TWs before picking this up— and also invest in a night light, you’re probably gonna need it! 

Also, a huge thank you to Nazia at Orbit Books for the physical copy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Violence, Bullying, and Animal death

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Torture

ellarroz's review

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Blood

sdsmith80's review

adventurous 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

<b>Truly Terrifying!</b>

This is my first book by this author, but it definitely won't be my last! I literally started reading late last night and have spent the entire day engrossed in this sorry. 

I'm very desensitized, to the point where nothing really scares me anymore, but if that wasn't the case, this book would do it. It's a tight, intense thrill ride from beginning to end. I know it's been compared to Golding's Lord of the Flies, but Children of the Corn came to me quite a bit as well, especially with the religious aspect. 

Seriously, if you like horror (and if you're reading my reviews, you probably do), you need to get this book. You won't regret it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Vomit