Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins

8 reviews

vanella's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Death, Alcohol, Cursing, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Violence

Moderate: Body horror, Car accident, Infidelity, Stalking, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Cannibalism, Blood, and Drug use

Minor: Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, and Vomit

kshertz's review

dark tense fast-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

3.75

This was a good mysterious thriller! There’s some parts that are slightly eye rolling because people just need to talk for like 5 minutes and clear this up but otherwise, it’s a cool setting on the island. There’s a ton of twists and turns and I was interested in how it was going to end!

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Sexual content, Infidelity, Bullying, Death, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Drug use, and Toxic relationship

sahcrook's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Gore, Infidelity, and Murder

ravenpuff's review

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Confinement

Moderate: Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Infidelity

Minor: Cancer, Cannibalism, Car accident, Drug use, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Blood, and Body horror

bookishgoob's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

I would have rated this higher had the ending been a little different. the motives of the ending didn’t really make a whole lot of sense to me but i didn’t hate it! it was a little predictable but i liked that it was still mysterious and tense so the predictability didn’t ruin the story. the atmosphere was amazing, the descriptions of every thing down to how the sun felt was absolutely beautiful. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the aesthetic of it. a thriller set in the sunlight and beauty of an island was so unnerving and i haven’t really read anything like it! i highly recommend it! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Classism, Death, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Violence

kylasmv15's review

adventurous mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Alcohol, Death of parent, Drug use, and Murder

Moderate: Gore, Car accident, Confinement, Cursing, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Child death, Cannibalism, and Vomit

michellemaas's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

2.5

* Beware of minor spoilers

2.5 - ⭐⭐💫

Standalone Adult Thriller with island vibes, dual timelines, and multiple point-of-views. Also deals strongly with themes of privilege and loss.

It was a great study on human nature, but marketing it as a thriller is a bit of a stretch.

"Dreams were for people who had choices, opportunities. I didn’t believe I had any of those things."

Lux and her boyfriend, who are in dire need of some money, offer to accompany 2 college girls to a deserted island for a thrilling adventure. While things are nice, even relaxing at first, the discovery of a dead body causes them all to question whom they can trust.

"The truth is, when your world is falling apart, you stop having 'a thing.' You get so focused on just making it through each day that 'interests' or 'ambitions' kind of go out the window. You definitely don’t have time for passions."

First and foremost, I think marketing this as a "thriller" is a bit of a stretch. There were legit maybe 4 thrilling scenes in total, and even that's me being a bit generous. Now this was my first thriller so maybe I'll come to learn that that's just how it is, but I don't think so. This felt a lot more like a contemporary or speculative fiction book with a heavy emphasis on sociology.

The whole point of the book was to explore people. How they interacted, the things they did to be accepted by others, how loss affected them but also how isolation affected them. Being on a deserted island with no connection to the modern world gave everyone the freedom they needed to justify their baser human instincts. The jealousy, the possessiveness, the sexual urges, everything was dramatically heightened because there were no other people to subconsciously keep them in line with the threat of not fitting in and being accepted. It was a great study of human nature and I really enjoyed it but thrilling, it was not.

All that being said, I still think Hawkins is an amazing author. She has this way of using stylistic devices (which is not something I ever notice) to enhance the story and make the characters super realistic. Things such as her narrating past events in the third person as opposed to the first person of current events to create distance between the people our main characters were and currently are, for example. She also delivers a very slow and mundane start to the book so we can see how fast things escalate in the end. It was all just really well done.

"What am I when you strip everything else away? I’m a motherf*cking survivor." 

Overall, I unexpectedly really enjoyed reading this book, especially the social commentary Hawkins made, but I wish there were more heart-pounding scenes and a bit more of a plot since things only really started happening at 65% in. The ending was pretty mind-blowing and expertly done though. Would recommend it if you are in the mood for a book that is slightly thrilling and has a cast of amazing characters.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Cannibalism, Abandonment, Alcohol, Body horror, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Car accident, Classism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gore, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Stalking, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Animal death and Chronic illness

alexisgarcia's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Overall, this was a fun change of pace from my usual genres. However, there were a few problems for me.

First, it’s definitely “R-rated”. There’s cursing, death (not a spoiler, mentioned on the inner cover), etc. that may bother some so keep that in mind.
Second, I wish there was more character development. Some of the characters seem a little one dimensional due to the lack of development and exploration. 
Third, I did also feel like there were some issues toward the end. Some of the end character plots left me a little disappointed and confused. A lot of it seemed rushed and almost forced. 

Aside from those issues, the book was a pretty fun and heart racing change. The descriptions of the island are beautiful and the tangled relationships and characters were so fun to “figure out”. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a thriller about a deserted island or someone who wants to pretend it’s not winter.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Cannibalism, Car accident, Chronic illness, Classism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Murder, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence