Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Marabou Stork Nightmares by Irvine Welsh

28 reviews

freyaa_p's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark sad medium-paced

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence

abigailkokitus's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Note: the content warnings do contain some spoilers. 

I can honestly say I’ve never read anything quite like this book. It was one of those books that makes more and more sense as it unfolds. By the time I reached the end I realized that it was a masterpiece. Disturbing yet also deeply sad. After finishing this I kind of just had to sit in silence for some time… I was left speechless. Even if it feels slow at some points, I urge you to continue reading, because once you get to the end, you’ll be glad you did. I know I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Pedophilia, Rape, Violence, Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail

rockyrunes's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Classism

rzh's review against another edition

4.5

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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my fav irvine welsh book - harrowing, hurtling, boke-worthy katabasis ! hwfg !

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Suicide attempt

Moderate: Medical content

monsieur_tunin's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation

kaseii's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Would I recommend this to anyone without thinking it through? No.
Did I love it though? Absolutely!
This book serves its purpose. It is horror-thriller, and it gives you chills. Irvine welsh has created a real character and even though, Roy Strang is an unreliable narrator and a menace to society, you empathise with him.
Its good read, but not for the fainthearted.
I’d strongly advise reading the trigger warning list before picking up this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Gore, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Alcohol

Minor: Incest

rachelfek's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark emotional reflective

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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A bit slow at times but the ending was fantastic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Rape

Moderate: Homophobia

threepigeons's review against another edition

4.75

dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Featuring a character who has so far easily been my least likeable protagonist by a long shot, I could not stop reading this book. The story starts with our protagonist in a coma, hunting a stork in his mind, with him occasionally hearing the nurses or visitors in the real world. As he recovers physically, he starts to lose control over his dreams, he passes between hearing (and running from) the outside world, the memories of how he got to this point, and his real goal - hunting the stork. This story was extremely dark and beautifully told. 

(I went into this blind. Seriously, check the content warnings.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug use, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault

jaroszynski's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Homophobia, Incest, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol

littlefish's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail