Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Ghosts We Keep by Mason Deaver

10 reviews

the_bookish_witch's review against another edition

emotional sad tense fast-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

4.75

A well written book i enjoyed reading but incredibly frustrating and sad. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Child death, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, and Toxic friendship

bg_oseman_fan's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

This book felt very raw, and close to what it make look like if we could really sit inside someone’s head while the experienced such a devastating loss at such a young age. Mason tackles grieving in a way that is less like a Hallmark movie and much more like real life. I particularly like how Liam’s relationship with his Mom was explored. I also liked the before sections that gave us insight into Ethan that contextualizes the impact his death has on those who knew him. I found Liam’s relationship with his friends hard to read, and felt some information was missing and more about that aspect could’ve been shown better in the story. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Vomit, and Grief

Minor: Homophobia and Suicidal thoughts

thebookpaiges's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Homophobia, Blood, Self harm, Grief, Death, Dysphoria, Transphobia, and Cursing

Moderate: Outing

martereadsbooks's review against another edition

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Death, Child death, Grief, Blood, Car accident, Self harm, and Mental illness

Moderate: Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Transphobia

piperclover's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

Devastating. I cried so hard. Its so hard to listen to but worth it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Self harm and Blood

someonelikeblue's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Car accident, Cursing, Blood, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Transphobia

ocean's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Self harm, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Car accident, Child death, and Death

Minor: Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Transphobia

ajankloss's review

emotional reflective sad fast-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

it kind of hurt to read this book it’s so . emotional . very accurately portrays what it’s like to lose someone u love very dearly 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm

Moderate: Toxic friendship and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Vomit and Blood

erinsbookshelves's review

challenging emotional sad 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Car accident, Child death, and Blood

Minor: Vomit

melaniereadsbooks's review

challenging dark emotional sad slow-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

4.5

Thank you to Hear Our Voices Tours and PUSH for an arc of this book.

In the wake of their brother's death, Liam has to contend with his grief, tensions between them and their parents, and faltering friendships.  Told through multiple points and time before and after Ethan's death, this is a story of grief and reconciliation and understanding more about others and yourself.

Firstly, I'd like to say that Mason Deaver has done it again and their writing is still absolutely phenomenal. It's heart-wrenching, deep, and provides so much food for thought.  I really enjoyed reading about Liam's journey and how they reconciled with what happened to his brother. I think this story has so much going for it and communicates feelings of grief that are often glanced over in books. It really gave me a lot of feelings.

There were two things about this book that kept me from giving it a full 5 star rating. The first one was something that I'm not sure will be in the finished version or not.  Liam is nonbinary and uses they/them and he/him pronouns. They expressed that he doesn't like to be called "son," "guy/dude/man/boy/etc".  To me, someone with those preferences typically also wouldn't like the word "brother" for themselves, and would prefer "sibling" or something else.   Now, obviously if the character is okay with "brother," then that is totally valid.  My thought process here is that it is actually not obvious if Liam is okay with this or not, as there are other times in the book when someone calls him a name they are not okay with, and he decides to let it go.   This makes me wonder if the times Liam was referred to as brother were a mistake?  Or if maybe it just needed to be explicitly stated that he wasn't okay with those other terms, but was okay with this one.

The other thing I took issue with was more of a personal note:  there is a very graphic and detailed scene of self-harm in this book. Personally, I didn't think that scene was necessary to the plot or the story, or even fit well with Liam's character up to that point. I honestly wish this chapter hadn't been included, or at least that I had known ahead of time and skipped it myself. After I had finished reading, I looked on the author's website and saw that they do mention it as a content warning for this book. I wish it had been written at the beginning of the book along with other content warnings, as I feel many readers are not in the practice of checking websites before reading a book.

All in all, I really did enjoy this book, although I think the personally triggering content for me will keep me from reading it again.  Please be aware of the content warnings before picking this up, and stay safe!

Pub date: June 1, 2021

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

misgendering