Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis

39 reviews

not_to_day's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Blood, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Stalking, Alcohol, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Violence, Sexual harassment, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Homophobia

Minor: Addiction

nomonbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

2.5

This was well written, I just didn't like it. I didn't enjoy the gore and the tone or the people. I wanted to keep reading and that's pretty significant given what I didn't enjoy but also I'm so so glad I finally finished it. People who like thrillers may like this.

Also in regards to what happened (spoilers for ending)

I am like 100% sure in my mind at least that the trawler were the adult cult members and this was a story about a bunch of messed up kids left to their own devices too much, not cared for and adultified resulting in horrible conclusions. Everyone (of the children) was a victim here. The violent crime we see on page committed by a child is Brett murdering Robert. And that was a huge failure of every adult involved that let it get to that point. (And I know he's old enough to take responsibility for that somewhat but as with any crime in the real world committed by a 16 year old thecl context is so so important - and I know Robert has been accused of sexual abuse and I'm not absolving him from that responsibility but acknowledging that he was a victim here too from his father, and from the cult).

I don't think Brett attacked Susan and Thom, as it seems a bit random and out of character for him and it's more a further example of how things can are and will spiral in absence of I don't know, adult responsibility and supervision and putting it all on kids. The paranoia that seeped into their relationships and lack of trust for eachother and I think in the world generally to look after them.

They consistently had absent parents, drug addict parents, parents who are perpetrators of sexual abuse, alcoholic parents. The level of neglect is overwhelming, the absence of modeling of healthy interactions and relationships. The total lack of guidance from any adult in my opinion is what got them to where they ended up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Child abuse, Death, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Car accident, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Stalking, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Torture

ashlyntalksbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Death, Drug use, Stalking, Animal cruelty, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Animal death, Gaslighting, Gore, Mental illness, and Murder

hannschwarz's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Torture, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Animal death and Animal cruelty

patrickreads89's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Gore, Sexual content, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Blood, Death, Violence, Drug use, Mental illness, Murder, and Suicide

ktdakotareads's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Murder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Gore, and Grief

aristarcodisamo's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Blood, Body horror, Drug use, Kidnapping, Addiction, Torture, Drug abuse, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Violence, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Infidelity, Cursing, Classism, and Sexual violence

Minor: Antisemitism, Death of parent, Car accident, Outing, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, and Suicide attempt

clichemarker's review

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.5

“Don’t you think he’s probably gay?” Thom stopped. “Don’t you think that’s his real problem?”

Good, but overly long.
He spoils elements of the book at the beginning, but it takes so long to get to them that I completely forgot what he had said.
This feels like a cautionary tale for nosey people. 
The gore is sparse, and happens every hundred pages or so. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Death, Animal death, Violence, Alcohol, and Body horror

Moderate: Sexual assault, Vomit, and Pedophilia

fmoffiziell's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Drug abuse, Animal death, Excrement, Infidelity, Sexual content, Body horror, Homophobia, Murder, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Car accident, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Death, Gaslighting, and Alcoholism

poubelleboi'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

4.5

Ho letto "Le schegge" di Bret Easton Ellis. 😳 In realtà ho ascoltato l'audiolibro e non scherzo quando dico che in un giorno ne ho ascoltato un terzo, anche se dura 26 ore (ha più di 700 pagine). Avevo già sentito tante opinioni positive quindi mi aspettavo che fosse bello ma veramente non riuscivo a smettere. 

In questa autofiction, Bret è alle superiori e durante il suo ultimo anno cose strane cominciano ad accadere e si scopre che un serial killer è attivo nella zona. Bret ne diviene ossessionato e sospetta del suo nuovo compagno di classe. È una storia con tanta tensione e tanta violenza ma una delle cose intriganti è il fatto che il narratore non è affidabile per cui ogni lettore può interpretare la storia a modo proprio. Ha tanti trigger warning ma io l'ho divorato e lo consiglio.

È stato interessante come l'autore ha intessuto l'omofobia nel racconto.

L'omofobia interiorizzata è un motore per Bret per fare o non fare determinate cose; la paura di essere scoperto lo porta a non denunciare ciò che sa, a non condividere la registrazione delle torture su Matt. Questo finisce per esacerbare tutte le sue paranoie. Chissà se sarebbe potuta finire diversamente se solo Bret avesse pensato di poter essere attratto dagli uomini senza giudizi esterni. Perché alla fine, i pensieri omofobi che ha non sono che echi di ciò che qualcun altro gli ha detto nel corso della storia. Per cui l'omofobia è stata come un personaggio che teneva sotto ricatto costante il nostro protagonista.

Quello che mi ha tenuto incollato, comunque, è stata la scrittura di Bret Easton Ellis e ammetto che non avevo letto niente di lui prima, ma di certo adesso sono intrigato e voglio leggere altro, quindi consigliatemi altro di suo. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Drug use, Sexual content, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Violence, Cursing, and Death

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Infidelity, Mental illness, Outing, and Medical content

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Suicide attempt