Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Lost City of Z: a legendary British explorer's deadly quest to uncover the secrets of the Amazon by David Grann

4 reviews

iblamewizards's review against another edition

adventurous informative medium-paced

4.0

What I was not expecting when I started reading The Lost City of Z was the body horror! David Grann writes horrifically (and beautifully) about the physical toil and horrors that early explorers of the Amazon had to go through.

The Lost City of Z is perfectly paced, and wonderfully written. Grann editorialises frequently, but uses the historical record to do so, so I never felt like things were unrealistic. It also leant the book an air of an old-school adventure story, rather than being a dry non-fiction tome.

My one criticism is that while Grann does not infantilise or denigrate the indigenous peoples of South America in his own parts of the narrative, this is still, at its heart, a story of colonialism and empire. I would have liked this story, and these histories told with more input from indigenous voices rather than relying on the tales of adventure and daring that led so many men to their deaths. I also felt like Nina, Fawcett's wife was too much of an afterthought for so much of the story. Although, credit where credit is due, Grann does make a very clear point of showing that Fawcett's exploits were only possible because his wife put her own dreams and ambitions to the side, sacrificing everything and living in genteel poverty to make it possible for Fawcett to pursue his.

All in all, this was a wonderful, engrossing read, but do be prepared for a lot of body horror, death, and some confronting tales of animal cruelty. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Slavery, Colonisation, and Genocide

clarabooksit's review against another edition

adventurous informative mysterious medium-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation and Racism

Moderate: War, Violence, Death, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Classism, Abandonment, Body horror, and Mental illness

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Slavery, Ableism, Cannibalism, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, and Grief

ezulc's review against another edition

adventurous informative mysterious medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Slavery, Colonisation, Gun violence, Genocide, Fatphobia, Drug use, Ableism, War, Violence, Racism, Murder, Death of parent, Death, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Cannibalism, Child death, Body horror, Blood, and Animal death

horizonous's review against another edition

adventurous informative medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Cannibalism, Medical content, and Racism

Moderate: Animal death, Genocide, and Slavery

Minor: Kidnapping