Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Everything the Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca

19 reviews

bookishpriest's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

1.5

This felt like two half-conceived short stories stitched together for the sake of making something long enough to publish as a book.  Two parallel storylines that suddenly meet up in the last 10% of the book. Some of the ideas were interesting, but fell flat and didn't recieve their due. There were references to Sandman and Needful Things that could have been very compelling but did not deliver.

There were several depictions of extreme violence and homophobia (check the trigger warnings before reading!) that did very little for the story or character advancement,

didn't get much treatment and, in the end, were hand-waved away without any real follow-up.

This felt to me like a version of trauma porn and not at all helpful.

Whatever the author's intent, I couldn't find it in these pages and it was disappointing enough that I won't be looking for more of their work.

The narration of the audiobook is well done and a pleasant listen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Homophobia, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Ableism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, and Death

Minor: Pedophilia

erebus53'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I picked up this one at random because the title seemed interesting.
The story is weird, mysterious, supernatural, and bleak. It felt like there were actually 2 stories stitched together.

People are going missing, and one of the police officers investigating is a Muslim man who is getting flack from his husband for pulling long hours. They are a sweet couple, but continually on guard due to micro-agressions from their neighbours.. which escalate to macro-agressions and ultimately extreme violence, as someone in the neighborhood is trying to pressure the men into leaving.

The other protagonist is a depressed young man who is grieving the loss of his wife and unborn child in a motor accident that permanently damaged his own leg. He has this niggling voice that continually disparages him. It belongs to an actual demon (is it real?) with whom he has an oddly codependent toxic relationship. (Nowhere near as friendly as Calcifer in Howl's Moving Castle). One day he meets a fancy old man with a swanky mansion who offers wishes.. this gives me real "Needful Things" vibes. The guy is about as suspect as you can get even before he introduces himself as Heart Crowley.

Mumble mumble, magic, cult, demon / God, zealots, creepy, blood and rituals etc. (step 4: profit!... or prophet?)
Meanwhile sadistic homophobic violence, rape, multilation, and all that bad stuff

but that's ok because we have God locked in our cellar and he can make it all miraculously better.
Kinda liked the whole Clockwork Orange feel of stumbling into the mansion in the middle of the night though. ("HOME")

I liked that most of the characters are gay or pan. Interesting to hear the widow character voicing experience of biphobia. I realize it's supposed to be gritty and horrific but the whole rape angle just felt awful rather than creepy. I kind of feel like the whole story might have had more going for it if it was either a supernatural horror with a paranoid anxiety sufferer OR the horrible side of be what can happen to a sweet gay couple just trying to live their best life, but trying to tangle the two together is just not quite doing either justice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic friendship, Racism, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Violence, Rape, Biphobia, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Excrement, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Abandonment, Blood, Car accident, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, and Suicidal thoughts

mindysbookjourney's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Grief, Homophobia, and Hate crime

Minor: Car accident, Death, Pedophilia, Ableism, Biphobia, and Child death

owlribbon's review

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Car accident, Sexual assault, Blood, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Death, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Religious bigotry, Excrement, and Homophobia

thenonbinaryc's review against another edition

3.75

Running ableist trope throughout book about how disabled people are monsters and burdens. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Ableism, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Pedophilia, and Hate crime

mikepalumbo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Torture, Car accident, Violence, Rape, Gore, Blood, Homophobia, and Hate crime

Moderate: Pedophilia

shelbae_smirth's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.0

Im left with many questions, however, I’m not sure that any answer would be satisfying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Homophobia, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Gore and Hate crime

Minor: Pedophilia

micalyia's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

 It was uncomfy and dark and twisty. This book can be very triggering to check trigger and content warning.

It wasn’t scary but it was horrifying in the fact that it was just horrible how the characters keep getting knocked down by different situations 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Pedophilia, Hate crime, Grief, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Body horror, Death, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Excrement, Rape, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Stalking, Violence, Gore, Physical abuse, and Torture

rosage's review

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

what did i just read? i feel like i say that every time i read one of their books but i never know what i just read. this was dark, gross, uncomfortable, and one of the best reads i’ve probably ever had. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Religious bigotry, Violence, Homophobia, Blood, Body horror, Excrement, Gore, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content