Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky

33 reviews

deetabz's review against another edition

adventurous funny sad fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Violence, Grief, and War

seually's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad 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? No

4.5

I heard a lot of good stuff about Adrian Tchaikovsky's works, and so happened that this writing appeared on my TBR. I'm so overwhelmed with emotions. And my next read going to be Shadows of the Apt. I liked Adrian Tchaikovsky's writing style and vivid descriptions~~ 
I find the ending very sad. And the theme through the book was depressive. I was immersed in the writing and felt connected and sympathetic to the characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Abandonment

Moderate: Drug use

Minor: Colonisation

English is not my first language, so there were a couple of times I'd look into the dictionary.

devynreadsnovels's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Death, Violence, and Blood

laura_wska's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror

raincloud35's review against another edition

adventurous emotional fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror and Mental illness

Minor: War

yuyuv's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Medical content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

bluejayreads's review against another edition

4.5

The back cover on this was mediocre, and I didn't have high expectations. But it was surprisingly good. It takes the maxim "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" and rolls with it. But the communication struggles between the augmented anthropologist of a technologically-advanced people and the princess of a generally-primitive people were the most fascinating part. For being as short as it is, the world and characters are remarkably complex and the emotions are surprisingly deep and rich. The plot is fairly simple - go to this place, deal with the demon there - but it ended in a pleasantly unexpected way. I just can't get over how this book looked so unassuming on the outside and yet managed to be complex and interesting and have such solid characters and a well-developed world while still being so short. I almost wish it was longer just because I want more in this world with these characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Death, and Mental illness

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

johnbat's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

This is a duel-perspective narrative that is BRILLIANTLY told. I loved how the author used unique language in the perspective of each character to incite differing images of the story. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror and Mental illness

Minor: Gore

gilnean's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Death, and Medical content

Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, Colonisation, War, and Classism

anna_hepworth's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

5.0

Reading this was a lovely way to spend an afternoon. Warrior (Lynesse Fourth Daughter) goes to ask for help from the Sorcerer In The Tower, who is actually no such thing, but an anthropologist, left behind. And the threat, described as 'demon' for half the book, is a creeping eldritch horror that was more convincingly awful than many I've read in more explicitly horror books. And there is a strong element of body horror in the way that this presents. 

This is a novella, so there isn't anything complicated in b-plot. But there doesn't need to be. The world building is lush, and complex. The exploration of how the past/future are alien to us was done really well, particularly in the chapter where two stories are told together in separate columns--this is a stylistic choice I've seen done a few times, often to juxtapose the colonial and colonised perspectives--which really highlighted the way that language can shift. 

The characterisation is strong, but some what difficult to relate to. Given that one of the viewpoint characters spends a lot of time actively (and effectively) suppressing all sensation of emotion, this is probably a necessary side effect of an accurate portrayal of the inside of their mind. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Abandonment