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not_to_day's review against another edition
- 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
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
hannschwarz's review against another edition
- 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
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
violents's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Drug use, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Stalking, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Homophobia and Suicide attempt
aristarcodisamo's review against another edition
- 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
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
fmoffiziell's review against another edition
- 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
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
syellico's review against another edition
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Animal death, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Violence, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Death, and Suicidal thoughts
emiliaborsikova's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
Graphic: Mental illness, Blood, Stalking, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Body horror, Drug use, Suicide, Torture, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Gaslighting, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Car accident, Addiction, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Sexual harassment, Rape, and Vomit
disguisedposer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, Homophobia, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Outing, Self harm, Stalking, Biphobia, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Animal death, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
gatsbyonabudget's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Animal death, Violence, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
katherineflitsch_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It’s been a while since a book has shocked me as much as this one did. It’s been a long while since a book has left me feeling so unsettled. I don’t know what much to say without giving away spoilers. But in the end you feel just as Susan feels holding Bret’s hand in that room. In the end you feel scared and horrified and dizzy with realization, with denial, and nausea. In the end you nearly want to be sick.
(In, like, a totally good way!)
Bret does suspense incredibly well. And he has mastered horror here, too. He blends evil with high school in such a glorious (and glittering) way: a student masks his violent identity just as a student masks his homosexuality in 1981; a teen boy is convinced his friend’s new boyfriend is a serial killer just as as teen boy is convinced his friend’s new boyfriend isn’t good enough for her; a boy grieves heartbreak just as a boy grieves the brutal murder of his first love. These layers pass over one another as delicately and fluidly as curtains sliding over one another moved by wind. In high school, you are terrified of things that you one day grow out of fearing, but in the moment of teenage psyche, the terror and horror of these things is crippling. In THE SHARDS, those teenage terrors are indistinguishable from actual tangible death and mutilation and evil. Bret contorts teenage angst into “legitimate” horror.
I read once somewhere that the difference between fear, terror, and horror is this (and I’m paraphrasing from murky memory): fear is walking in the woods at night and knowing that a wolf is prowling; terror is walking in the woods and seeing the wolf before you; horror is walking in the woods and realizing you have stepped right into the wolf’s trap. Bret Easton Ellis’s THE SHARDS encapsulates all three.
(Warning though: it is quite graphic.)
Graphic: Death, Body horror, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, Gore, Car accident, Sexual content, and Murder
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Blood
Minor: Alcoholism and Car accident