Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht

25 reviews

jenareuter's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Medical content, Violence, Death of parent, Body horror, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual content, Stalking, Physical abuse, Bullying, Self harm, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Child death and Alcohol

rachelunabridged's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Blood, Violence, Toxic relationship, Death, Gore, Classism, Sexual assault, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Stalking, and Death of parent

Minor: Child death and Rape

maevemil's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Murder, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child death, and Blood

chris_reads's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted sad slow-paced

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

3.0

I have such mixed feeling on this because I loved the prose and atmosphere and setting, but not so much the plot. As with the characters, they were fascinating and well-crafted but I wasn't exactly rooting for them. This had so many elements I love but they just fell short for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Murder, Self harm, Child death, Death, Gore, and Gun violence

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Classism, Violence, Blood, and Terminal illness

Minor: Animal death, Stalking, and Drug abuse

vigil's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense slow-paced

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

3.75

the venn diagram of comedy and horror is a circle.

the plot is mostly straightforward until you reach the ending where things get murky.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Excrement, Grief, Murder, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Violence, Blood, Body horror, and Chronic illness

sff180's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Violence

river24's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

5.0

5/5
Where do I even begin? This is the most beautiful, well-written book that I've ever read. The writing is magical, every single line holds so much depth and emotion. I loved every single aspect of this book!
It's dark and bloody and so, so incredible. The relationship between the two main characters had me screaming in this venomous glee. It was–for lack of a better word–gloriously fucked up. Their relationship teetered precariously over the cliffside, swaying back and forth between the firmness of the crumbling soil and the black waters below. I cannot describe with words how perfect this book was. The relationship also reminded me a lot of the relationship between Hannibal and Will in the Hannibal TV show.
This book delves into a shadowed city with a vengeance at its heart and a monster on its heels. I always adore when books explore what it means to be a monster and what it means to be human, this book did so flawlessly in a non-explicit way.
Queer horror as a genre is something I always love and always come back to, please give me recommendations if you have any !! This book was everything and is something that I'll be recommending forever–I will not be forgetting about this book anytime soon!
I always stand by the fact that magic is a metaphor for queerness and I think that the horror genre often holds its own unique spin on queerness in its bloody jaws and both of those factors I am in awe of every single time.
This is quite a short book therefore this review doesn't go into immense detail because I don't want to spoil it, but trust me this book is worth your blood, sweat, tears and more.
Some of my favourite quotes were; 'Don't you feel it, sometimes? As if the world wants to consume itself.' 'Magic is not in the brain, miss; it is in the bones.' 'Thin ice isn’t a problem for the sea; it’s a problem for the blind idiot who steps out on it.'

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Terminal illness, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Grief, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abandonment and Alcohol

mthevice's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

Beautiful writing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Sexual content, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Gaslighting, Rape, Sexual violence, and Genocide

micheala's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.5

This is a case of knowing a book isn't going to be your cup of tea, and reading it anyways. The author is from Halifax, Nova Scotia and as this is my first weekend since moving here, when I saw it at the thrift store I just had to buy it.

It's a weird horror novella, kind of steampunk/fantasy feeling. It's super dark and graphic, and totally out of my comfort zone.

While I didn't necessarily like the plot or the characters, I will say that it is well written. So if your a fan of horror I would definitely give it a shot. I would recommend looking up some content warnings as it has some big ones.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Torture, Suicide, Stalking, and Violence

Moderate: Excrement, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexual assault, and Vomit

witchycowboy's review

dark tense fast-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

5.0

This is a nasty book, with nasty people doing nasty things. 
If you can get your hands on the audiobook I highly rec it. As it really just made this book so much better! 
This is a dark fantasy horror that follows two men that fancy themselves as monsters. Florian is a wizard with a heart full of hate for the people around him and Johann is the unkillable beast that serves him. 
I love this book so much, it has everything that I love. Nasty main characters, gothic fantasy themes, LGBTQ+ characters, and lastly ... Lots and lots of gore, body horror, and lust. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Self harm

Moderate: Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Incest, and Death