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A review by sarah984
The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This book was fine, but overall it was disappointing to me. The characters all felt very one note and unrealistic (Julia's actions were at least interesting but her reasons for doing them were pretty stupid), aside from Julia's murders the gore almost all takes place off-page or is barely described (why else am I reading this?) and the prose was so overwrought and goofy. There is a part near the end where Barker wants to convey that a dead character is possessed by one of the cenobites so that character turns to Kirsty and essentially just says, "I'm a cenobite!"
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use, Fatphobia, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Stalking, and Gaslighting