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Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'
The Winter Spirits: Ghostly Tales for Frosty Nights by Catriona Ward, Natasha Pulley, Laura Purcell, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Bridget Collins, Jess Kidd, Andrew Michael Hurley, Stuart Turton, Imogen Hermes Gowar, Elizabeth Macneal
7 reviews
francescaminney's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Mental illness, Blood, Vomit, and Classism
Minor: Hate crime, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and War
foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I can see why gothic ghost stories were popular for Christmas. They blend questions about religion and morality with bleak, dark, isolated settings in a way that encompasses the shadow side of winter.
All the stories had a historical setting that made for an atmospheric read I particularly enjoyed The Host, Inferno, A Double Thread and The Salt Miracles. The Host scared me the most and had me jumping at shadows in the night. Inferno had that Boschian style that really stuck in my brain. A Double Thread had such a gripping descent & I thought the FMC had good-character-building. The Salt Miracles I thought was the most unique and had an interesting, harrowing religious connection that had me hooked.
Overall, I’d definitely recommend adding this one to your gothic Christmas reading list!
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
styxx's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Blood, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Classism
menagerie_of's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Murder
booksjessreads's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Despite the theme being Christmas for these ghost stories, Christmas was always the setting, but not the most important part of the story, and for a lot of them, it certainly wasn't constantly referred to. This not only meant that when reading this in February that it wasn't too Christmas heavy, but also meant that the horror and terror was the main focus, rather than getting too bogged down with the setting at Christmastime.
This collection has got some wonderfully haunting stories, and minus the occasional story, they all were aptly written and convincing. There was such a variety of stories as well, some strictly ghost stories, others centring on terror and there was the occasional more 'modern' story rather than all being set in the 1800s. There was certainly a lot of creativity from the writers and some settings that were unexpected for me. All of the stories were atmospheric and spooky and just overall a really good, cohesive collection.
I absolutely would recommend this collection!
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Confinement, and Suicide
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Alcohol
Minor: Sexual content
nialiversuch's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Vomit
_bookbug's review against another edition
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Story 2: 3,75☆
Story 3: 3,5☆
Story 4: 4☆
Story 5: 4,25☆
Story 6: 3,5☆
Story 7: 3,75☆
Story 8: 3,75☆
Story 9: 3,75☆
Story 10: 4☆
Story 11: 3,75☆
Story 12: 3,75☆
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Homophobia, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment