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snowiceblackfruit77's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, War, Cancer, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Misogyny, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Grief, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Stalking, Violence, Vomit, Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Excrement, Pedophilia, and Racial slurs
outofthepinksky's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Suicide, Death of parent, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Police brutality, Ableism, Drug use, Rape, Blood, Animal death, Body shaming, Addiction, Cursing, Sexual assault, and Transphobia
Minor: Grief, Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Excrement
taylorraven'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
3.5
Also it won't let me put this as a trigger warning but this book might be triggering if you have a religious based trauma (Christianity. I don't think any other religions are mentioned).
Graphic: Gun violence, Fatphobia, Suicide, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Ableism, Racism, Misogyny, War, Homophobia, Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Animal cruelty
cateyeschloe'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
2.0
Misogyny is another heavily prevalent aspect of this book. I did not even try to count the number of times every woman in the book is referred to as “whore” or “bitch” or “slut”. Violence against women and the hatred of sex workers in general is a very prevalent theme throughout.
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Violence, Racial slurs, Rape, Toxic relationship, Blood, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Death of parent, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Animal death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Homophobia, Alcohol, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Torture, and Suicide
Moderate: Pregnancy and Excrement
Minor: Incest, Vomit, Cancer, and Abortion
Blood is constantly described and present in this book, often in copious amounts at any given time, and often used in ritualistic settings.There are numerous graphic murders, the majority of which happen via a firearm.
There are two serial killers, a cis man and cis woman team, who rape cis men and torture them physically until they eventually kill them. The torture is almost never described at all, and, if it is referenced, it is vague.
One character is a pedophile, but there is only one instance where this is referenced in a vague non-graphic way.
Another character is an adult man in his late twenties, I believe, who repeatedly coerces and manipulates young women and underage girls into having sex with him, claiming this is the way to their salvation. A couple of these girls are underage, one being 14 and the other 16.
There is the death of a dog, and the dog is then treated as a ritualistic sacrifice. This one dog’s death is a recurring plot element throughout the book.
There is one character who is obsessed with spiders and also bugs in general. At one point, he takes a giant jar filled up with spiders, opens it, tips it over, and spills them all over his face and body. There’s a lot of spiders in that scene.
Later, that same character is said to have been bitten by a spider and is suffering from that. Again later on, he not only still has the spiders but not eats bugs by the handfuls. This is decently graphic in how it’s described.
Sex work, as a whole, and the sex workers themselves in this book are treated abominably. The book is rampant with misogyny and violence toward women.
Alcoholism is referenced for one character, but many characters drink, in general.
voilajean's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Homophobia, Animal death, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Murder, Sexual assault, and Suicide
Moderate: Sexual content, Alcohol, Vomit, and Gaslighting
Minor: Fatphobia
augustinedreams's review against another edition
Graphic: Alcohol, Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Grief, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, and Sexism
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Vomit, and Violence
qi_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
i appreciate how well plotted the story line seemed to be. everything made sense together and donald ray pollock didn't feel the need to throw out a random, nonsensical twist in the name of shock value. although the means that i had a pretty strong hunch about where the story would be going it still was able to shock me due to the writing and how he depicts such scenes.
the writing was gritty and blunt which i love. some of these scenes are written in such a matter-of-fact way which just leaves you feeling like you like D:
the characters were well written and felt very dynamic. even "bad" characters *cough cough arvin* i still felt like rooting for and you are just left with mixed emotions.
part five was definitely the part where i had the biggest emotional reactions to the text, i am reluctant to say my favourite part because yikes. if you are looking for some small town, gritty horror i would highly recommend but dO LOOK UP TRIGGER WARNINGS!
as you can tell by this spotty review i don't know how to formulate my thoughts properly. so, great way to nurse the morning after my second dose of the vaccine.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, Fatphobia, and Gaslighting
Minor: Ableism, Homophobia, and Racial slurs
kylajaynebooks'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
1.5
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, and Vomit
zoewrath's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Grief, Hate crime, Murder, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Abortion, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Vomit