Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Recursion by Blake Crouch

23 reviews

ababytapir's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.75

This book got me excited about reading again. It was part sci-fi thriller, part mad-time travel paradoxical brain-fuck, part horror, part romance, part philosophical musing on the human condition, and I loved EVERY second of it. It's a book I couldn't put down. A book I immediately recommended to everyone I know who loves sci fi and thrillers. It's one of the most thought-provoking books I've ever read. I literally only took off a quarter star because it's a little too nice to police, and the romance was a touch too heterosexual for my tastes, but that's just based on my own personal politics. It's a book I'm immensely glad I read. I spent the days after reading it just going "wow. What? Wow." 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, War, Violence, Gun violence, Torture, Murder, Death, Child death, Grief, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Suicide, and Gore

This is a very violent book and there's some pretty graphic descriptions of mass violent acts like being right inside a nuclear war and terrorist attack. The book opens on a suicide and the story is often driven by the main character's deaths and suicides.

andrearahman's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

Incredible. Wondrous. Tense. Horrific. Brain-melting. Impossible to put down. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content, Gore, Body horror, Suicide, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Dementia, Mass/school shootings, Grief, and Death

laurenmiller100's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

3.0

This book is really terrifying. The ideas about memory and identity are very interesting, but it gets a little preachy toward the end. I also found it a little overly sentimental by the end.

That said, the descriptions of Barry and Helena dying in a nuclear fall out are truly gruesome and horrific. It’s awful.  The ”hell” that the characters get stuck in during their 30 year loop is so scary. Especially for all the people who ARENT Berry or Helena.  The book doesn’t focus enough on that. It’s truly terrifying.

I agree with what others have said about the lack of chemistry between

Barry and Helena

. The story skips a lot of their love story and it leaves the reader feeling sort of left out of their connection.

3 stars

• Characters: 4
• Atmosphere/Setting: 5
• Writing Style: 7
• Plot: 5
• Intrigue: 6
• Logic/Relationships: 4
• Enjoyment: 4

War, torture.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Torture, Violence, and War

Minor: Suicide attempt

msappear's review against another edition

reflective tense medium-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? No

4.25

I picked this one up after reading Dark Matter. It's much slower paced than that book.

At first it starts out as a mystery. I liked the unwraveling and discovery portion of the book a lot. However things really slowed down once the concept is fully realized. The back half of the book drags on a bit and it lost it's luster for me.

Overall I enjoyed the book. I think I would've rated it higher if I didn't read Dark Matter first, but in comparison it's not my favorite by Crouch, so I have to rate it lower than that book. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

evelynritzi's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

This is one of those books where you just need to accept that it will be a bit confusing. Keep pushing through because you don’t need to understand everything completely to follow the plot and it will get a bit repetitive anyway.  That said, I really enjoyed this one! I could see this being a movie or show for sure. Like Dark Matter, this is a love story wrapped in a sci-fi novel! 

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Suicide, and War

gondorgirl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Grief, Violence, Genocide, Blood, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Gun violence, War, Death, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Alcohol, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent

tungstenmouse's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0

This highly cinematic novel definitely has highs and lows. It’s a fascinating exploration of the connection between time and memory. For a long time I was completely riveted by this but I hit a wall at the 75% mark. One of the main issues the book has is that set up takes so much time and the repetition (yes, that’s in the title but still) get old fast. I found myself almost forcing the reading through some bits. But the overall story is pretty amazing! It was definitely worth the read and I had a much better opinion by the end of the book. If you like movies and/or thrillers you will love this book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Violence, War, Alcohol, Body horror, Child death, Dementia, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, and Suicide

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

katiefurms's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

such an incredible and thought provoking read. i really loved it 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, War, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcoholism, Body horror, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Car accident, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Gore, Murder, and Suicide attempt

adaora_ble's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.0

It's been a while since I read some sci-fi so this was a nice way to jump back into it!

I really liked how they built up the mystery and the internal logic of the universe of what exactly was going on, despite the blurb I wasn't really certain what I was getting myself into so it was nice to learn alongside the characters and get the same life plot twists that they do when they're thrown into crazy situations.

I really liked the characters, I was a bit worried I wouldn't like Detective Barry Sutton because he's a divorced dad with a dead daughter and he just felt like every action guy ever + he also reminded me of another detective from a book that ended up sucking but he really grew on me, he became my favourite character from the book although it terms of likeable characters there wasn't a huge number to chose from. The other main character Helena is heartbreaking because she only ever tried to do good and everyone else kept getting in the way of that.
The side characters felt very real and the thriller elements felt just sinister enough to leave you guessing what was going on. I definitely recommend this book if you like detective stories, sci-fi or just a two people going through life and learning from their mistakes.

There's a definitive shift in the trajectory of the plot that was slightly jarring because it felt very much like Part 1 and Part 2 but they tie together in the end by being a story of Barry's character development and him understanding his own role in his interpersonal relationships. It was very much his second chance at the life that he wanted. The last 3rd of the book was way more hardcore than the rest of it, more grisly but it was necessary for the story and to drive home how hard everyone was trying to work to a good ending.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Child death, Death, Dementia, Gaslighting, Mass/school shootings, Abandonment, Grief, Medical trauma, Addiction, Genocide, Kidnapping, Self harm, Violence, Alcohol, Body horror, Death of parent, Drug use, War, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship

karyan1's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Violence, Child death, Death, Medical trauma, War, and Suicide

Moderate: Blood, Chronic illness, Body horror, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury