Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung

46 reviews

harry_ballantyne7's review

challenging dark tense 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? N/A

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Body horror

Moderate: Violence, Torture, and Child abuse

vixenreader's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

The translation from Korean to English is a bit off at times. However, that does not dim the bizarre beauty of this collection. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Pregnancy, Blood, Gore, Ableism, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Classism, Abortion, Abandonment, Alcohol, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Excrement, Sexism, Violence, Death, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Medical content, Cannibalism, Mental illness, Misogyny, Torture, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Infidelity, Gaslighting, Bullying, Physical abuse, Rape, Emotional abuse, Incest, Sexual assault, Grief, Kidnapping, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Miscarriage, Vomit, Stalking, and Suicide

Be aware that there is characters slowly dying, hunger, starvation, c-sections, blood clots, mob violence, financial struggles, mentions of Nazism, and destruction of cities and families.

olliepopop's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Torture, Abandonment, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, and Child death

Moderate: Car accident

Minor: Incest

cider_lover's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This collection of stories was simply too weird for me. I like to think that I enjoy things that are strange and off-putting but many of these stories just grossed me out with no (that I could tell) purpose. The suffering of the characters felt like it was pointless, which I know in some cases works to get a message across, but it didn't quite work because of the lack of connection with the characters. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Physical abuse, and Incest

Moderate: Slavery, Torture, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Rape

Minor: Murder

astrangewind's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I finished this book in two sittings - one for the first story, and then the entire rest of the book in the second. It was truly unputdownable, but I truly cannot tell if this was out of genuine enjoyment, or out of the desire to get it over with as quickly as possible. 

The first two stories are the extremes of horror - the gross, the bloody, the fucked up. The rest of the stories are a bit more mellow, which is more suited to my tastes, but I found that I didn't really click with most of them, or understand the ending. (Although I have been known in the past to miss some crucial detail or other. Short stories aren't generally my thing.) Either way, it was a decently quick read, and I did enjoy it, although not to the extent that others have, although I don't think that's the fault of either the author or the translator. 

I dunno, I just feel like horror story collections feel the need to cram in every possible trigger they possibly can, every possible gross or bloody thing, to make a compelling story. And that is frankly untrue, and it feels a lot like shock value when it does happen. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Medical content, Physical abuse, Violence, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

Moderate: Animal death, Vomit, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Gore, and Suicide

Minor: Rape, War, Colonisation, and Incest

kaimju's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.75

Opisem tej książki powinna być długa lista trigger warnings. A tak poza tym, Bora Chung zdecydowanie umie w opowiadania.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Gore

Moderate: Miscarriage, Body horror, Excrement, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, and Child death

Minor: Car accident

sauvageloup's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

3.75

I whistled through these very disturbing little stories. 

pros:
- they're definitely gripping, and the writing style is sparse but clear and evocative, with the descriptions being vivid.
- the stories felt self contained and satisfying overall, even as many ended in tragedy.
- the last book of short stories I read, i struggled to jump from one story to another, maybe because they were so different and by different people. this one wasnt like that at all, and i had no problem reading straight through, pretty much.
- i liked the variety in length and themes of the stories, from birth horror, to supernatural, to fantasy fairy tale and modern criticisms on feminism and capitalism. i think i mainly read very on the surface and didnt look hard at metaphors and such, a reread might help me see this more.
- I liked the sheer imagination though and how Chung makes you care for characters who often arent even given a name.

cons: 
- the first two stories especially, but a lot of them overall, were pretty horrible and graphic. they did their job in making you feel things! but it reminded me too much of just horrible nightmares and intrusive thoughts and I wouldnt read those two again.
- I also felt there was generally a lack of hope in the stories, but that's personal taste I guess.

overall, well written and gripping but too horror for me and dont think I'll seek out more of her work, but I might reread this in time. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Infertility, Car accident, Incest, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Murder, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Child death, Grief, Gore, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Bullying, Medical trauma, Sexism, Violence, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Torture, Pregnancy, Body horror, and Vomit

Minor: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

sneakysophster's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Weird, violent, gross, fairy-tale-esque, existential representations of the patriarchy, relationships with parents, capitalism, and greed. One of my favorite short story collections probably ever. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Mental illness, Car accident, Gore, Incest, Suicide, Rape, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Animal death, Body horror, Excrement, Pregnancy, Ableism, Murder, Misogyny, and Child abuse

b1gcheeto's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Cannibalism, Murder, Rape, Blood, Violence, and Child abuse

Moderate: Rape and Incest

room334's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Some of the most upsetting short stories I’ve ever read, but also some of the most  captivating. I don’t think I would necessarily recommend this to a lot of people, but I certainly won’t forget it anytime soon.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Torture

Moderate: Incest