Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

37 reviews

bludgeoned_by_hail's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

3.5

A surreally terrifying and original story. Just thinking about the premise of a rotting witch popping up randomly in my house gives me the chills, and the exploration of the prosaic ways in which a small XXI century town would deal with an ancient mystical curse like this is very unique and interesting. The creepy atmosphere of Stephen King-esque small town gothic (King is a big influence in general) escalates and the tension rises, but unfortunately it all falls apart in lazy shock horror and hamfisted moralizing.

The amazing concept is also pretty heavily dragged down by the book's "dudebro-isms": the almost fetishistic amounts of gendered violence used for horror, the mean-spirited portrayal of small town folks as bloodthirsty Bible-thumping idiots, and the entire character of Robert Grim, the epitome of "Reddit cool". Sometimes even the language of the writing slips into these cringy tropes, which makes the big sweeping declarations about the evils of humanity and mass hysteria feel even more adolescent.

This all makes it sound like I didn't like the book, which is not true. It's an incredibly spooky and engaging read and I'd still definitely recommend it to horror fans everywhere. I'm just kinda pissed about the ending still ;-;

(Also the setting should've stayed Beek in the English version, WHERE IS THE DUTCH HORROR REP)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Body horror

Moderate: Suicide, Sexual violence, and Rape

chainsawheartbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-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

2.5

I’ve finally finished this.

The combination of characters and insane morals people will drop to all for the “good of the town” were really interesting, and I found the actual setting intriguing, I loved learning more about its rich and fucked up history. 

But this felt like a slog. I really wanted to enjoy it more than I did, and I can’t really put my finger on why I didn’t.

There was a whole host of characters that I both wanted more information on, while also not really caring what happened to them.

And I really wish that the witch had more to do, especially in the end. I understand the whole metaphorical aspect of it, but I wanted her to get shit done.

All in all, I’m content with the fact I’ve read it, but I sadly can’t see myself revisiting this. Evidently this just wasn’t for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death, Confinement, Grief, Gore, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Rape, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, and Islamophobia

hauntedantiqueshop's review

dark mysterious slow-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

1.0

an absurd amount of nipple in this book and I assure you, it isn’t in a fun sexy way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Grief, Death, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gore, Child death, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement, Suicide, Medical trauma, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Gun violence, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Incest, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Alcohol

There isn’t a tag for the f slur but it is used a handful of times.

acorn192k's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

Thomas Olde Heuvelt stop talking about nipples challenge. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Body horror, Mental illness, Police brutality, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Torture

Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Islamophobia, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

jilly_reads's review

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

I DEVOURED this book. I rarely get this enthusiastic about new horror and this was just *chef’s kiss* perfection. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, and Grief

Moderate: Self harm, Child death, Suicide, Rape, Medical content, Violence, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Death, Sexual violence, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Sexual assault

Minor: Child abuse, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Abortion

aparker89's review

challenging dark reflective 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

4.5

This is a solid book! A fascinating story full of terror, love, heartbreak and most importantly- the evil of mankind! 
Good f&cking book! Definitely not for the faint of heart but damn- my heart hurts after reading this! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Classism, Genocide, Medical trauma, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Blood, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Torture, Confinement, Gore, Police brutality, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Homophobia, and Islamophobia

kaywhiteley's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I agree with some that a lot of the message of this book was told outright, rather than simply shown through the story. However, I did love this book. It was creepy and disturbing and the concept was rather unique. I will say, it took me a while to fully become immersed in the writing style, but by the end I couldn't stop reading until I finished. And jesus that ending...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Child death, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, and Animal death

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Islamophobia

maddie1280's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.75

I will forever be scarred. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Suicide, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Blood, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Self harm

_sappho_wannabe's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

the most disturbing book i’ve ever and might ever read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Self harm, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, and Bullying

Minor: Homophobia

cosmicpanda's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Violence, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Blood, Child death, Medical content, Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs