Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand

22 reviews

lauralintunen's review

dark inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Acephobia/Arophobia, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Violence, and Child death

Moderate: Cursing, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Sexual content, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Car accident

runes_reads's review

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

No spoiler review!
5/5 stars
Read for 2 hours and 41 minutes according to Libby, and picked it up four times (so like 40ish minutes average per sitting)
LOVED this story! The characters were so incredible and interesting, I cared so much for all of them. The POV switching was great and easy to follow, the vibes and word choice and IMAGERY was just amazing. Every character was so distinct and their own whole person. Some stories with POV switching and this many characters get sort of muddled, this certainly did not. It took me a while to love the characters, but once I did? They were so life like. All in all, a wonderful book that made me cry. There are some pretty heavy topics though, so make sure to check with the content warnings first

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Violence, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Rape, Cursing, Sexual assault, and Gun violence

ghostlyprince's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Murder, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Emotional abuse, and Gore

Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Suicide attempt, and Acephobia/Arophobia

Minor: Abandonment, Classism, Racism, Vomit, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol

chris_reads's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Death, Child abuse, Gore, Grief, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Body horror, Gaslighting, Misogyny, and Vomit

Minor: Sexual violence, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts

thebookraiders's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Grief, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Animal death and Confinement

emmaward55's review

dark sad tense

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

4.75

This book is perfect for anyone who loves the Charmed TV series and thought it could be scarier.

When I was on chapter four, my working theory was that the missing girls were being turned into horses by Val and her mum: But oh, it's so much darker than that. I love a good horror film, yet I found myself more creeped out in reading this book than I expected to be. Legrand's writing is evocative, tense, and atmospheric, without getting too bogged down in description. There's plenty of action and moments of good character growth throughout.

I read this book in two days, mostly in three long chunks, as I couldn't drag myself away to focus on anything else! I loved the complex relationships of our three protagonists and their characterisations have to be a highlight for me. Can't lie though, I’m sad that we didn’t get a reunion scene at the end between Marion and her mum. Considering that this is a book about female relationships, it feels weird to not include one of the protagonists interacting with the last present female parent of the trio. 

That being said, the above was my only real complaint. I'd certainly read this book again and I recommend it for anyone with a strong stomach!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Child abuse, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Blood, Self harm, Child death, Violence, Torture, Animal death, Gore, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, and Sexual content

Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Vomit, Medical content, Misogyny, Alcohol, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Miscarriage

Child death and kidnapping:

All are around 17

Self harm:

The only instance I remember is a character burning something off their skin, but it's done to save themselves and others

Drug abuse and suicidal thoughts:

A secondary character isn't trusted with their prescription medication, as a loved one suspects they might intentionally overdose. Nothing actually happens and it's just a brief mention.

oliverreeds's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

pretty good. the character relationships were stilted at the beginning. i didnt understand their motivations but it made sense at the end. i just wish there had been more friendship initially. would have provided a better foundation

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Police brutality, Self harm, Mental illness, Murder, Violence, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Acephobia/Arophobia, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Child death, Classism, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, and Toxic relationship

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Violence, and Acephobia/Arophobia

Moderate: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Sexual content, Cursing, Biphobia, Bullying, Blood, and Body horror

Minor: Gun violence, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

danaslitlist's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is Stranger Things meets pure horror, a science fiction paranormal mystery. I didn’t know I needed or wanted that until now.

Sawkill Girls is best described as an emotional rollercoaster. From terrifying to melancholy to comedic the range of feelings I experienced reading this was far and wide. All these emotions tangled up wonderfully and as a result had my attention wrapped up in the story at every turn. 

The commentary on how men view girls as weapons to weird and tools to possess are so beautifully illustrated. I am also a sucker for any book where female characters group together to defend and support one soother, the solidarity immediate and unquestioned. Having three very different female characters interacting, even when there was distrust, in that way was refreshing. 



This book also has asexual and sapphic representation that was handled really well; it was the cherry  on top.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual violence, Child abuse, and Animal death

Minor: Alcohol, Vomit, and Body horror

cajesp's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

i throughly enjoyed this book! i’m really surprised how much i came to love val after hating her for most of the first 1/2 of the book but now she’s my favourite character. great character development, world-building, just the right amount of horror and the relationships between the girls was a delight to read. i loved every girl so much and i loved their journey throughout the book. it was a surprisingly great read, i would definitely recommend this one but please be aware of the horror elements, some of the descriptions may be graphic for others! also bonus points for being sapphic and having ace representation!! so great to see :)  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

Moderate: Gun violence, Vomit, and Physical abuse

Minor: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Animal death