Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite

26 reviews

yaoipanduh9264's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

5.0

This is definitely not for the faint of heart. Though it is grotesque and could give the most disturbed person nightmares; I rather enjoyed it. It’s eloquently written and and draws the reader in no matter the unsettling description. Brite does an excellent job of making each characters point of view their own characteristics and nuances. The fluidity of the characters makes the story come alive. I would definitely recommend only if you have a strong stomach and are able to handle content that goes beyond vile, repulsive, atrocious, and revolting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Mental illness, Gore, Drug use, Sexual content, Addiction, Body horror, Death, Vomit, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Blood, Sexual violence, Rape, Racial slurs, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Homophobia, and Alcohol

horatioed's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Cannibalism, Death, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Kidnapping, Rape, Sexual assault, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Police brutality

Moderate: Mental illness and Self harm

Minor: Pedophilia

usemeinasentence's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Gore, Emotional abuse, Murder, Blood, Mental illness, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Drug use, Sexual violence, Torture, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, and Police brutality

shinsoukoku's review against another edition

dark

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

its as advertised and touted online—a gory disturbing horror novel. readers of this particular genre of horror probably won't go wrong with choosing this book. 

but ill admit i, personally, wanted it to be more than what it was and expand on more on the social commentary because it's the moments where the characters are simply existing in a society that doesn't want them to that really unsettled me. it would've helped understanding the fetishistic descriptions of tran (which i think is probably on purpose) in the eyes of white men as something that actually serves a purpose. but it falls flat and it's interactions with it's setting and the intersecting identities within them is shallow. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Rape, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Drug abuse, Gore, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, and Trafficking

Moderate: Racism, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Police brutality, and Vomit

Minor: Slavery, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Child death, Incest, and Infidelity

asian fetishization

gmelrose's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

The book was interesting. It was the right amount of gruesome and intriguing, though it was quite ambiguous. In style of writing it was straightforward and easy to understand, it definitely made me queasy. As for the plot, I didn’t really understand it, though it ended quite surprisingly; granted the book was short, and it made me not want to put it down, I read it fast. Maybe the fact that it was fast-paced and a bit distanced from a proper reason for it. The book is clearly character-driven, and the characterization was the best part, in my opinion. I liked the switch up between narrators and their languages, a neat detail. A thing that really threw me off was the use of the n-word, coming from a white writer, not glamorous.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Vomit, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Rape, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Police brutality

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Pedophilia

babieghoul's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Violence, Body horror, Drug abuse, Medical content, Sexual violence, Torture, Death, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Blood

Moderate: Racism and Homophobia