Reviews with content warning for Body horror - The Wasp Factory

I loved it!
It is so scary just to be in the kid's mind!
I am so glad I got to read this book, it has been by far one of my favorite horror books I've ever read.
First, let's talk about the main character: Frank. OMG, he is scary! He is a kid and young adult, and a psycho in the same mind. The beliefs he holds in his head and the obsession he has with every single aspect of his life just scared me so much.
I was more scared to be in his mind that to read what was going on around him.
It scared me so much the line that took the story, from making us disgusted with this kid to actually understanding him. It was such a great story, I have never enjoyed that much being in the villain's mind.
Then his brother...OMG he is also scary! Every telephone call they have I will just get super scared. I was so tense until they hung up. The way the brother spoke made him sound even more unstable than Frank, and all we knew was that he was coming our way.
The only complaint I will have would be that the book kind of makes us think that the story will be about the encounter between Frank and his brother Eric. So during the entire book, I was waiting for these scenes to happen, and the resolution to this feels kind of rushed and super short. I was expecting more from this plotline.
But it was also interesting to get such an immersive sight of the protagonist's life. As I said before, it was impressive how we started hating him and then we understood.
I wasn't expecting such a good plot twist. I thought the story was going to go in another direction, but WOW. It really changed my perspective toward the main character and made me question if someone could really get that evil for the same reason as he did.
It was a great book. My mind was completely blown away. I give it 5 stars easily.

Content Warnings

abithereader's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

pirateenthusiast's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

It was certainly captivating and the writing itself was pretty good, but the plot of the book left a LOT to be desired, and most of it seemed to be written more for "shock" value rather than any sort of substantial contribution to the characters. It wasn't the worst thing I've ever read, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Content Warnings

kawooreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

Its been awhile since I rated something 2 stars...this book...it is insanely graphic and obscene one minute and borderline boring the next. Essentially Frank, the protagonist lives a hermetic lifestyle on his family's small island in Scotland with his father. At the beginning they learn that Frank's older brother Eric has escaped an institution and is making his way back to the island. As Frank awaits his inevitable arrival, he divulges the frightening reasons as to his brother's incarceration. Frank admits that he himself has a dark secret, that he killed three of his child relatives in his youth, including his little brother. The rest of the book is Frank nonchalantly describing the grisly ways in which they died while roaming around the island, engaging in intense animal cruelty and performing psychotic rituals with his "Wasp Factory". I held out to the end for 2 reasons, 1) its relatively short, just under 200 pages and 2) every dang person on tiktok said this is one of their favorite disturbing horror books and I'm trying to read Spooky for October...I do not recommend this book to anyone unless someone just wants to indulge in torture stories and relishes a read that will make them regret the time they wasted. Its an extremely disturbing story that had no redeeming qualities and quite a bizarre and lackluster ending. But maybe these kinds of stories just aren't for me.

Content Warnings

grimfrown's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

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

4.5

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