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nomonbooks's review
- 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
2.5
Also in regards to what happened (spoilers for ending)
I don't think Brett attacked Susan and Thom, as it seems a bit random and out of character for him and it's more a further example of how things can are and will spiral in absence of I don't know, adult responsibility and supervision and putting it all on kids. The paranoia that seeped into their relationships and lack of trust for eachother and I think in the world generally to look after them.
They consistently had absent parents, drug addict parents, parents who are perpetrators of sexual abuse, alcoholic parents. The level of neglect is overwhelming, the absence of modeling of healthy interactions and relationships. The total lack of guidance from any adult in my opinion is what got them to where they ended up.
Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Child abuse, Death, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Car accident, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Stalking, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Torture
aristarcodisamo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Blood, Body horror, Drug use, Kidnapping, Addiction, Torture, Drug abuse, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Violence, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Infidelity, Cursing, Classism, and Sexual violence
Minor: Antisemitism, Death of parent, Car accident, Outing, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, and Suicide attempt
fmoffiziell's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Drug abuse, Animal death, Excrement, Infidelity, Sexual content, Body horror, Homophobia, Murder, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Car accident, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Death, Gaslighting, and Alcoholism
emiliaborsikova'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? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Mental illness, Blood, Stalking, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Body horror, Drug use, Suicide, Torture, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Gaslighting, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Car accident, Addiction, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Sexual harassment, Rape, and Vomit
katherineflitsch_'s review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It’s been a while since a book has shocked me as much as this one did. It’s been a long while since a book has left me feeling so unsettled. I don’t know what much to say without giving away spoilers. But in the end you feel just as Susan feels holding Bret’s hand in that room. In the end you feel scared and horrified and dizzy with realization, with denial, and nausea. In the end you nearly want to be sick.
(In, like, a totally good way!)
Bret does suspense incredibly well. And he has mastered horror here, too. He blends evil with high school in such a glorious (and glittering) way: a student masks his violent identity just as a student masks his homosexuality in 1981; a teen boy is convinced his friend’s new boyfriend is a serial killer just as as teen boy is convinced his friend’s new boyfriend isn’t good enough for her; a boy grieves heartbreak just as a boy grieves the brutal murder of his first love. These layers pass over one another as delicately and fluidly as curtains sliding over one another moved by wind. In high school, you are terrified of things that you one day grow out of fearing, but in the moment of teenage psyche, the terror and horror of these things is crippling. In THE SHARDS, those teenage terrors are indistinguishable from actual tangible death and mutilation and evil. Bret contorts teenage angst into “legitimate” horror.
I read once somewhere that the difference between fear, terror, and horror is this (and I’m paraphrasing from murky memory): fear is walking in the woods at night and knowing that a wolf is prowling; terror is walking in the woods and seeing the wolf before you; horror is walking in the woods and realizing you have stepped right into the wolf’s trap. Bret Easton Ellis’s THE SHARDS encapsulates all three.
(Warning though: it is quite graphic.)
Graphic: Death, Body horror, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, Gore, Car accident, Sexual content, and Murder
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Blood
Minor: Alcoholism and Car accident
charvermont's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Animal death, Drug use, Mental illness, Vomit, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Car accident, Death, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
torturedreadersdept's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Car accident, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Body horror, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Biphobia, Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Dysphoria, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Confinement, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Gore, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Animal death, Blood, Infidelity, Murder, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship
amebarre's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Sexual violence, Death, Alcohol, Death of parent, Suicide, Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, Outing, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Drug use, Murder, Mental illness, Car accident, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Rape, Violence, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
valeriekate's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Gaslighting, Murder, Outing, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Violence, Animal cruelty, Pedophilia, Self harm, Suicide, Infidelity, Rape, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Animal death, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Death of parent, Hate crime, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Addiction, Car accident, Classism, Cursing, Death, Dysphoria, Grief, and Homophobia