Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

14 reviews

night_shift's review

dark reflective slow-paced

• 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

2.75

I dunno, man. Had some darkly funny bits but I called the ending (although wavered here and there when clues were "resolved") about a quarter of the way in. I can see where this was probably shocking and I was deff uncomfortable with the frequent animal deaths, but something about this felt like it was trying to say something but even Banks didn't know until that very last chapter where he tried to bring it all together (not entirely successfully, imo)
I guess also this wasn't going to be my jam from the start as I'm not a fan of the sociopath/serial killer POV. That said, Frank really is a unique voice and it doesn't waver.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Moderate: Body horror and Alcoholism

Minor: Mental illness and Child death

biobeetle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death, Misogyny, Abandonment, Gore, Murder, Alcohol, and Child death

Moderate: Ableism, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Dysphoria, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Pregnancy, Body shaming, and Suicidal thoughts

louiepotterbook's review

dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Animal death, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Dysphoria, Misogyny, Murder, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Mental illness, Medical content, Racism, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Honestly with all the warnings I listed it still doesn’t feel like enough

charlizardbookboi17's review

challenging dark mysterious sad slow-paced

• 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

3.5

Very well written and engaging. Was a quick read. Very dark and violent. Rough in most spots but couldn't walk away without finishing it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Gore, Grief, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

revolution666's review

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Animal death, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexism, Misogyny, Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, and Abandonment

Minor: Racism, Alcoholism, Cursing, Rape, Transphobia, Vomit, and Blood

hollieadaw's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Mental illness, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Sexism, Transphobia, Gore, and Alcoholism

Minor: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts

karaboureview's review

dark funny tense medium-paced

• 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, Murder, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Transphobia, Sexism, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Blood, Alcoholism, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Bullying, Gaslighting, Torture, Body shaming, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Violence, Infertility, Animal cruelty, Death, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Child abuse, Ableism, Homophobia, Vomit, Excrement, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Outing, Cursing, Body horror, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Incest, Confinement, Abandonment, Alcohol, Racism, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, and Infidelity

This might be just a me thing, but the chapter titled

"What Happened to Eric" really redefines body horror, in my book,

and deserves a content warning all its own. Also, this isn't a tag option, but:

mutilation of animals both dead and living, and the (implied and actual) mutilation of people.

lizardgod's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

• I really can't decide if I hate this book or not, on some aspects, the trans representation is decent for the book's genre yet the only reason Frank is trans in the first place is due to trauma. It is interesting that the view of not aligning to the gender he was raised and the struggles with masculinity is more accurately depicted than most books written by actual trans authors. This book is honestly really good to me and my written summary does not do the book justice. It does take effort to start but it escalates very quickly once you realize what's going on. Also it starts with a lot of cryptic symbolism however all of it makes sense by the end instead of having to figure it out based on personal interpretation/author inference, a feature I personally enjoy in books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, Dysphoria, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Stalking, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Gore, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Toxic relationship, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, and Incest

nialiversuch's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Dysphoria, Murder, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

keerak's review

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence