Reviews tagging 'Dysphoria'

The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

13 reviews

thesaltiestlibrarian's review against another edition

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

3.0

 I thought for sure this would be way more intense than it actually was. People talk about this like it's some paramount tale of psychological twisting and horror, but I thought it was mid. Yeah, the animal death is messed up, but all of the other stuff? Saw some of it coming, and some of it was weird folks who live in a small town. As someone who lives in a small town (under 7,000 people), it wouldn't surprise me to have this happen close by. 

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moonmoonsun's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

3.5


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saintgroovy's review

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challenging dark reflective 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

4.5

This is a uniquely dark and detached story, and taking the journey throughout daily life and memory with Frank gives insight into the psychopathic mind. You’ll find yourself confronted with the most monstrous of human behavior, while tackling Franks complete apathy towards his own actions. At times it’s funny how easily Frank justifies doing something terrible, and the roundabout ways he explains the need for cruelty.
I think the themes of gender identity and masculinity lead to such a complicated conclusion, not only for our narrator but for us. Do you hold sympathy for a person who is incapable of feeling any themselves? 
This is a story of both a victim and a perpetrator, who in the end holds no deep feelings about anything at all. 

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biobeetle's review against another edition

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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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louiepotterbook's review

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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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charlizardbookboi17's review

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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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shysheepys's review

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challenging dark mysterious tense 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

2.25

Read for a challenge, found on Book-tok. Don't think I'd ever pick this one up ever again, nor do I want to think on it ever again. I do think the overall theme was intersting, and it reads from an interesting, unreliable narrator, which is one of my favorite book types. Spoiler ahead:
A lof of people seem to hate that Frank turned out to be trans. I don't think that is the problem with this book. the gross over use of animal abuse is really the biggest turn-off for me. Overall, realizing that Frank was done wrong by the only person he ever trusted or seemed to love in his life was the hardest part of all. I think the part with Frank assuming that his dad was trans was a really intersting thought to consider, and the reveal of Frank being AFAB as an "expieriment" is equally frustrating but horrifying, and isn't that part of being a horror novel?
Definately made me sad, but I wouldn't reccomend this to anyone nor share that I had read it.

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karaboureview's review

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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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abbieinwonderland's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-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

3.75


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lizardgod's review

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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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