Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Tripping Arcadia by Kit Mayquist

12 reviews

nithya_natalya's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This was a very fun novel, and once I got into it, moved very quickly. Very dark and bitter, and a satisfying portrayal of the decay beneath the glitz of capitalism and celebrity.

The only reason that I didn't give this five stars is because I wanted it to go further than it did. While the atmosphere and general mood of the novel felt gothic, the climax and resolution didn't feel grisly and tragic and destructive enough. It felt like eat the rich, except we only got the appetizer before the novel was over.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Death, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Addiction, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Grief, Ableism, Medical content, Vomit, Self harm, Murder, and Confinement

thecriticalreader's review against another edition

tense medium-paced

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

1.0

 

Context:

I read Tripping Arcadia by Kit Mayquist because of Jesse On Youtube’s recommendation. I borrowed it from my local library through the Libby App.

 

Review:

Lately, I’ve been reading and watching a lot of stories about poor protagonists who work for ominous wealthy people/corporations. Tripping Arcadia certainly falls into this category, and I can see its potential; it has a strong beginning chapter and some interesting plot threads. Beneath its Gothic vibes, however, Tripping Arcadia is nothing more than a clunky debut novel that struggles under the weight of its stilted prose, flat characters, and convoluted plot. 

 

When reading Tripping Arcadia, experienced readers will recognize some of the common prose mistakes made by debut authors: awkward phrasing, the tendency to tell instead of show, overuse of passive voice, etc. It could have been worse—it didn’t prevent me from becoming engrossed in the story—but it also left something to be desired.

 

For me, the most interesting part of the book is the two wealthy siblings, Jonathan and Audrey. They appear to have a checkered past and Mayquist wraps them up in an aura of mystery; are they to be pitied, or to be feared? Unfortunately, we never learn much about them and they remain in enigmas rather than developed characters. Similarly, Lena, the protagonist, fails to come alive on the page. She claims to care about her family and friends but easily abandons them to hang out with the rich people she supposedly hates, and her supposed rage against the wealthy disappears at the drop of the hat when Mayquist needs to move the plot along. In the hands of a more capable author, this sort of dithering could be fascinating, but at the end of the day, Lena is confusing and boring.

 

One of the biggest appeals of books like Tripping Arcadia is the opportunity to see rich people behaving badly and hopefully get punished for it. The wealthy in this book do indeed behave badly, but not in any way that made me think that Mayquist has any solid grasp on what rich people and their lives are actually like. The result is a ludicrously convoluted plot that makes no sense. By the end of Tripping Arcadia, I had no idea what was going on—but I also didn’t care.

 

The Run-Down: 

You might like Tripping Arcadia if . . . 

·      You’re in it for the Gothic vibes, bisexual main character, and trippy plot

·      You’re looking for a thriller rather than a horror novel

 

You might not like Tripping Arcadia if . . .

·      You like well-developed characters and a believable plot

·      You want an incisive social commentary about wealth

 

 

A Similar Text:

The movie 2023 movie Saltburn, which at the time of writing this review is all the rage.  I liked Saltburn much more than Tripping Arcadia, so take this comparison with that in mind. Similarities include:

·      Family of rich, dysfunctional assholes who host lavish, drug-filled parties in their Gothic mansion

·      An outsider main character with devious intentions

·      Poison and murder

·      Sexual tension between the main character and two rich siblings

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Medical content, Suicide, Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Bullying, Vomit, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

laketwentytwo's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Addiction, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Body horror, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Vomit, Terminal illness, and Blood

Minor: Suicide and Suicide attempt

corikane's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

https://kanebookworm.wordpress.com/2023/04/12/tripping-arcadia-by-kit-mayquist/

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Vomit, and Self harm

Moderate: Alcoholism

maya_venkatesh36's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Blood, Medical content, Vomit, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Sexual harassment

our_bookish_reads's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

What an amazing debut novel! Bravo Kit Mayquist, bravo! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

The events that transpire are so well written that they're believable. Even the characters were believable! My favorite character was Jonathan, I just felt for him and he seemed the most real in this. I was so sucked into this book that I had to force myself to peel it away from my eyes! I was shocked by some of the twists in here and did NOT expect the last few bombshells!  I can kind of get how this is compared to The Great Gatsby in that it compares the filthy rich to the absolute poor.... it also had a slight mysterious ambience while still staying in the Psychological Thriller genre. 
I could go on and on about this book all night, I really could, but I don't want to give away the whole story!

Drug abuse, alcohol, suicide ideation and attempt are very heavy in this, so if that is a trigger, I'd advise you to skip this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Medical content, Alcoholism, Addiction, Murder, Vomit, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Abandonment

ca_risa's review

fast-paced

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

2.0

The ending was not well done I don’t think it made sense. The main leads girl betrays her and forces her hand and she just forgives her with little to no thoughts otherwise. Very inst-lovey. There was no chemistry between the main leads and  the main character was a terrible friend. Not really gothic there was no under current of darkness or horror very little revenge at all, her anger never felt fully realized.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Violence

Minor: Self harm, Vomit, and Sexual harassment

booksofdahlia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use

Moderate: Vomit, Medical content, Death, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and Alcoholism

caseythereader's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Thanks to Dutton Books for the free copy of this book.

 - TRIPPING ARCADIA is quite the ride! Blending gothic horror with modern nightmares and a heavy dash of queerness, it's visceral and gripping at every turn.
- I found myself quite invested in the Verdeaus in an unexplainable way just as Lena was.
- Some of the plot machinations were a bit tidy and predictable, but I still quite enjoyed the trip. I'll be interested to see what Mayquist does next. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Cursing, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, and Death

e_l_bee's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

i found the first half of this book a little slow, but then i read the second half in two sittings. a brilliant plot with a lot of twists that i didn't see coming and very morally grey characters. a fun gothic poison book that had a lot to say about class. i think it could've used another round of edits though as i found the writing on the sentence/paragraph level to be a little repetitive in ways that could easily have been edited out. (though absolutely stellar use of metaphor and simile and some beautiful descriptions throughout) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Classism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical trauma, Medical content, Murder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail