Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Troop by Nick Cutter

146 reviews

emilyons's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Blood, Gore, Animal cruelty, Child death, Animal death, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Body horror, Pandemic/Epidemic, Murder, Self harm, Cannibalism, and Death

Minor: Bullying

mewpasaurus's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Normally, I'd be keeping (and re-reading) any book I rate this highly, however, Nick Cutter's The Troop is an exception; it's too gruesome and descriptive when it comes to wanton animal cruelty. It's incredibly well written and engaging and it definitely does body horror well (something I find hard to find in written works), but I just don't care to re-read accounts of squishy, gross torture of animals and the whiny, teenage narratives of the main characters.

If you like body horror, you'll probably find this is a good/fast read. It's also worth noting that while the characters aren't necessarily likeable, they are not two dimensional and do seem to be complex in the way I would say most pre-teens/teenagers tend to be, which made it more believable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Vomit, Child death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Animal death, Homophobia, Murder, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Violence, Animal cruelty, Fatphobia, Gore, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, and Death

jennaraetions's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

5 stars simply because what the fuck

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Medical content, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Vomit, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Violence, Blood, Mental illness, Murder, Torture, Fatphobia, Animal death, Bullying, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Grief

saint_eleanor's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

5.0

I was so pleasantly surprised by this!! I was expecting like 80’s goop horror and instead i got a hybrid of Lord of the Flies ,  Russian Sleep Experiment ,  &  Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke. All wrapped up in like a devastating painting of boyhood.

I was so sad that Newt got infected and also that Ephraim went crazy bc of Shelley-thing. Rest in peace baby boys.

i want a sequel! Reading this book is like watching the worm-fight scene from the movie Splice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Self harm, Child death, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Animal death, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Gore

Minor: Abandonment and Excrement

Sooo gorey and gorey animal death

charlieeee's review

dark sad 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Gore, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Self harm, Torture, Pandemic/Epidemic, Mental illness, Gaslighting, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Bullying, Vomit, and Blood

Minor: Police brutality, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Medical content, and Forced institutionalization

arealpup's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-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? No

4.0

I feel like this book could easily have been a 5 star book if the cast didn't feel quite so... desolate? When I say the main focus of the book was the plot, I mean that. It's a good, well rounded plot with a fantastic beginning, middle, and end, but I didnt quite feel for the characters the same way I would most books. I felt as though I barely knew the characters, and often mixed the crew up, however maybe it was purposefully done by the author to save you from feeling so much remorse and discomfort that came from the more graphic scenes. It wasn't until the last few chapters that I felt I started to really know two of them, but I felt the development and introductions could have been a lot more apparent. Still, this book certainly kept me on my toes, and wanting to know how things would be resolved. The graphic story telling was fantastic, and Im very happy with how it ends. I enjoy the more realistic approach to such a disgusting story, almost painting a very plausible reality.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Eating disorder, Murder, Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Torture, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Eating disorder and Vomit

There's a very graphic scene of a kitten death that is toward the middle end of the book. It's a chapter that only really describes more of a characters upbringing and personality. If this is something that is triggering or hard to read, I'd recommend skipping to the chapter ahead.

smashbooks's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

michellec9's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Animal death, Gore, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Blood, Animal cruelty, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Vomit

bellestallard's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Blood, Pandemic/Epidemic, Self harm, Torture, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Gore, Violence, Death, Physical abuse, Murder, and Vomit

Moderate: Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Body shaming, and Cursing

Minor: Police brutality

autumnrevisited's review against another edition

dark sad 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? It's complicated

3.75

This is one of the worst books I’ve ever read. Not because it was bad but because it was so gross and detailed in a way that is just viscerally unnerving. Impressive writing but fucking hell. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Child death, Gore, Animal death, Excrement, Murder, Abandonment, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Blood, Death, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Police brutality, Suicide, Violence, Cursing, Medical trauma, Grief, and Classism

Minor: Torture and Sexual content