Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh

4 reviews

ratmuva's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I loved this book so much more than I originally thought. It took me a bit to get used to the way it’s written in Scots/English but it added more to the book. Some parts were super out of left field and hard to read, but all in all an interesting story. It was hard to keep up with the characters, but once you get them in order you see how all their lives intersect. Another book I would potentially read again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Drug abuse, Excrement, Addiction, Violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, and Body horror

Minor: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, Racism, Self harm, and Domestic abuse

zoinkie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

• 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Medical content, Racial slurs, Rape, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Sexual content, Alcohol, Racism, Vomit, Addiction, Classism, and Terminal illness

quinnviv's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective 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

5.0

Was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I went into it knowing that it could be a difficult read due to the dialect however that was my main draw to the book for research purposes. What I initially set off on when starting the book changed entirely once I found myself in the world and with the characters, who I didn't necessarily like but seemed to care for in some way.

The way Welsh differentiates the characters point of views through the change in writing style and accent was marvellous and I loved the working class perspective on big topics. I would've loved to see more of Stevie's and Nina's character as they presented an interesting outsiders look into the depravity of the scene that Renton has found himself in. My only gripe with the book was that at times I found myself disappointed in the disappearance of story threads but the disjointed structure of the book seemed to reflect the headspace of its characters which I appreciated.

This structure of vignettes coming from multiple peoples perspectives rather than a fully cohesive story was reminiscent of sitting around a table with old friends and telling the highlights/lowlights of the past year. It treated the reader as smart, engaging with topics of systematic injustice for the working class in Britain with an educated but genuine voice of the lower class, as well as forcing you to infer gaps within the story.  The moments where the perspective was from a woman showed an appreciation for their resilience when not only are they systematically oppressed but also poorly treated by the misogynistic men in the story. 

Practically, reading this book allowed me to process the writing much easier as well as improved my Scottish accent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Death, Child abuse, Body horror, Sexism, Cursing, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Drug abuse, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Terminal illness, and Rape

Moderate: Alcoholism

alexorr's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Abortion, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Vomit