Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty

32 reviews

kier__'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Murder, Death, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Alcoholism, Cursing, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Vomit, and Physical abuse

hounded's review against another edition

dark emotional

3.0

A classic horror book of course and very very good. Not my favorite in terms of style and some of it felt kind of pretentious but still a good read! PLEASE CHECK CONTENT WARNINGS BEFORE READING!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide, Sexual content, Excrement, Violence, Vomit, Self harm, and Rape

kroov's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Anticlimactic but mostly good I suppose. Kinderman is one of the most annoying characters ever though I wish Regan would have gotten his ass

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Vomit, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Excrement, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Torture

gabrielasilgado's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Violence, and Death

mr_rose's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

This book was probably one book I would never read again. There is a good pace and some interesting ideas on excorcism. But the rest was a little to disturbing for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing and Violence

spooky_coochie's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Vomit, and Excrement

Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Incest, Grief, Gore, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Regan is possessed (obviously) but there are clear parallels to childhood mental illness and lots of discussions of schizophrenia and psychosis. However, the discussions are very matter-of-fact and surprisingly compassionate. Discussions of "multiple personality disorder" using dated language (it is 1970 after all) but nothing terribly offensive. No instutionalizition. Also brief mention of child deaths

looneysoysauce's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, and Medical content

Moderate: Addiction, Chronic illness, Confinement, Drug use, Death of parent, Excrement, Grief, Alcohol, and Drug abuse

Minor: Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, and Antisemitism

poirot's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Vomit, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Murder, and Excrement

Minor: Child death, Drug use, Suicide, and Addiction

ocelotdoll's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

3.5

After my relatively disappointing horror experience with Rosemary's Baby, I decided to give the genre a second try with The Exorcist. Whilst it succeeded at being much more successful in scaring me, it failed to engage me with the same ease of reading. Having never seen the movie because I was already terrified of the few clips of the movie I had seen, it is possible that I was primed to feel scared by the book. Nevertheless, the book as a whole has a heavy atmosphere of despair, meaning that once Regan starts fully losing herself to the demon, the book stays persistently heavy with no levity to interrupt it. It is this atmosphere that and the few good genuinely scary scenes that carry the book for me, as the style and pacing both worked against my engagement with the book. Some of the stylistic issues can be attributed to the age of the book obviously, however, some dialogues can be particularly painful to read through with characters taking pages to get to a very simple point. Additionally, the vocabulary can sometimes feel a bit too repetitive to the point of negatively impacting the horror aspects. Regan moving her head like a cobra is disturbing once but when it is said in that way for the fifth time it loses a lot of its effect. The pacing is a different issue which unfortunately has no excuse. Regan's possession is a quick process, showing symptoms by the 10% mark and taking fully hold by 30%. However, reaching 30% felt like a trudge with chapters of character set up whose relevance is still unknown making them feel like needless delays to the demonic possession set up. Additionally, by the 60% mark, the attempts at scientifically explaining Regan's condition have ceased and the process of getting the exorcism done begins. This process is however mostly uninteresting, being a simple repeat of all of her symptoms until something clicks in the characters' heads making them accept the paranormal aspect of the situation (a click that is unecessary from the reader's perspective who is already aware of this nature). Thus, whilst managing much better at being unsettling, and sometimes genuinely scary, The Exorcist is not as enjoyable a read as Rosemary's Baby was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Vomit, Suicide, Body horror, and Violence

cinderrunner's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Brilliant example of a horror novel. Genuinely one of the best books i have yet to read in the genre. The horror isnt extremely in your face but it is still deeply unsettling. Its a bit of a slow burn. The way its written constantly challenges the notion of if Regan is truly possessed or just mentally ill, which mirror social beliefs and functions in a brilliant way. It really haunts you. The movie is, of course, iconic. But the way the book is constructed just flows and builds so much better. A must read for horro fans. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Child death, Xenophobia, Excrement, Suicide, Violence, Drug abuse, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Addiction, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Medical content, Ableism, Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, and Mental illness