Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Koku by Patrick Süskind

38 reviews

sarina_klinst's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-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

4.0

How can you come Up with a book Like that?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Torture, Cannibalism, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, and Murder

lunaisreading's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I really enjoyed the writing, some quotes are beautiful and the metaphors are well-executed. The main character  is not a textbook villain or

serial killer

, but instead a very strange human that you grow to empathize for but also hate. I could've done without the

incest/pedophilia towards the end, as well as the animal death

. That, combined with the pacing being inconsistent and some parts feeling a bit dragged out or irrelevant, is what prevented the rating from being higher. Either way, I believe it's an interesting and thought-provoking read that will definitely make you feel uneasy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Murder, Violence, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Incest, Pedophilia, and Body horror

Minor: Torture and Suicidal thoughts

kathleen1701's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, and Death

goldenlake's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Stalking, Violence, Classism, Death, Murder, Sexual content, Body horror, and Sexual violence

nils_0's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Incest, Miscarriage, Suicide, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Body horror, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Torture, Violence, and Grief

Minor: War

linnea1801's review against another edition

challenging dark tense 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

1.5

If I didn’t have to read this for school I would have dropped it a few chapters in. The main character was so despicable that it hurt every time he got away with something.

It was also extremely infuriating that all the victims were CHILDREN and they were still very sexualised

However, the way that scent was described was very intriguing. In my opinion it was overdone in the middle section, but especially in the beginning it was interesting. All in all I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone but it definitely wasn’t the worst book I was forced to read for school.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Cannibalism, Death, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, and Suicide

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Incest, Misogyny, and Racial slurs

winsomefish's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Sexual violence, Blood, and Excrement

Moderate: Murder and Vomit

caitc90's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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

3.5

Jean-Baptiste Grenouille known as Grenouille was born in 1738 in the gutters of a fish stall and tossed aside. He was born without a scent, every woman who cared for him noticed it. Although he was born without a scent, he had the most incredible sense of smell, he could smell where you came from, what you ate for lunch yesterday wearing the same outfit, he could differentiate between the scent of clear glass and green glass. No one was capable of smelling the way Grenouille was. Even with his tremendous smelling ability it wasn’t until he was in his 20s and isolated himself from humanity that he realised he himself was scentless. After this realisation he set off to make the perfect perfume.

Part one of the book gave me such a creepy crawly feeling I didn’t know if I would continue reading the book. I think as a mother myself the scent of your baby is such a particular scent, to think of a baby that didn’t have one felt so strange and uncomfortable. The description of him as a child creeped me out so badly and the way his actions were explains it made me stop reading a couple times. 

After the initial grossed out-ness, part two of the book was pretty slow. I was expecting more murder because of the title. It was part 3 that got me interested in the book again, when he came out of isolation and went back to making perfumes.The ending of part 3 was not what I expected but it was funny to imagine. 

The end of the book was perfect, I couldn’t think of a better way to end it. I’m not a fan of historical fiction but I thought it sounded interesting, also there’s a movie to watch too so I thought it would be an enjoyable read. I’m glad I read it but I think I’ll likely stay away from historical fiction for awhile.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Animal death, Body horror, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Murder, Stalking, and Violence

inkdrinkeranonymous's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Torture, Suicide attempt, Murder, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Cannibalism, Stalking, Pedophilia, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

ladybergart's review against another edition

dark emotional funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

Moderate: Abortion, Death, Murder, Body horror, and Cannibalism

Minor: Incest