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felyn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
There's no on-page villain per se. There's a scientist who's not on page. One of the characters is a young serial-killer-in-training but he's not the antagonist. (He's *an* antagonist, sure, but not *the* antagonist.)
But you can't villainize an insentient parasite.
So you're reading this book about a group of 14-year-old boys from PEI, stranded on a small island for what's supposed to be an ordinary Scouting trip, and the only adult with them is quickly neutralised... and it's horrifying in part because of the descriptions of what the infected characters think and do, but also watch as the entire cast loses their grasp on reality. Wondering who's going to die next and how, because it's not just one thing that can kill you, it's exposure, it's starvation or dehydration, it's the parasite, it's the other humans, it's getting injured, it's falling off a cliff... And you as the reader is still there watching all this, wondering who is going to die next and who, if anyone, survives.
You get snippets of what the people on the mainland (er, back on the main island? back on PEI.) are doing and going through, but they are footnotes against the body of the main story.
Plus there's a lot of gross descriptive text in general that I am just not here for, but I'm sure others wouldn't have any issues with. You'd think that having aphantasia, this wouldn't bother me so much BUT NO.
Anyway, I'm going to go binge some sex pollen alien erotica now as a palate cleanser. Then I'll probably go read The Handyman Method, because I'm a masochist.
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Animal death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Self harm
katien160's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
. . . and I’ve been struggling to eat stringy foods for a week now. Not the exact zombie book I went in thinking it was, but super worth the read.
Graphic: Gore
vyralvyris's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Self harm, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, and Fatphobia
rat_leoo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, Body horror, Pandemic/Epidemic, Self harm, Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child death, Child abuse, Confinement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Vomit
animebloodqueen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Gore, Child death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Body horror, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Death, and Torture
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Fatphobia, Grief, and Medical content
Minor: Abandonment, Vomit, and Death of parent
jamiee_f's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
However, what this actually ended up being was a gross lord of the flies retelling with more animal abuse and more sociopathic boys. Not sure what the takeaway was supposed to be with this story....
I just wished for more story, more character motivation, less gore and pointless gross.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Medical trauma, Death, Abandonment, Violence, Bullying, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Stalking, Gore, Body horror, Murder, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Child death, and Blood
whaabzreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
I have read a lot of horror in my time but this was the first time I had to skip pages in a book because it was too much for me.
Heed the content warnings.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Body horror, Vomit, Blood, Mental illness, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Bullying
toxxicwasste's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Fatphobia, Child death, Medical content, Self harm, Confinement, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, and Body shaming
Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Bullying, and Cannibalism
An amazing horror book. I can’t wait to read more from Nick Cutter. READ ALL TRIGGER WARNINGS AND DO NOT TAKE THEM LIGHTLY.atalea's review against another edition
- 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? No
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Eating disorder, Violence, Child death, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, and Body horror
Moderate: Confinement, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Bullying, Fatphobia, Excrement, Gaslighting, Torture, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Fire/Fire injury, and Vomit
jee_nnyy98's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Animal death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Bullying, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Gore, Murder, and Death
Minor: Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, and Bullying