Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Woom by Duncan Ralston

115 reviews

kiiriko's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

1.5

why did i read this??? for once, i trusted Booktok without checking the reviews or anything because i thought the set-up was interesting but as i continued, it got more disturbing and crazy and, for me, not in a good way at all. i thought each story had its kind of interest to it, but the ending was so weird and out of place, i absolutely hated it and i felt as if it did absolutely nothing for me.
additionally, i thought that it was weird that the n-word was used i think at least twice, despite the fact that the author is a white man? i feel like there is no need to use this word in books written by white authors...

also, the description of the prostitute's body was so gross... i can't really describe it but it is quite noticeable that this book was written by a man because he objectified her so much... 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Addiction, Abortion, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Rape

mjadeh's review against another edition

1.0

This…was not good. It wasn’t even horror. It was just weird sexual violence and a guy with serious mommy issues. It didn’t succeed in horrifying or disturbing me, it just kind of made me confused as to why a human would write this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Miscarriage, Self harm, Pregnancy, Excrement, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Abortion, Addiction, Racial slurs, Rape, and Violence

ericgarika's review against another edition

dark 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

3.25

It’s really hard to review this book because I feel as thought the storylines are largely based on female experiences (which are written by a cis white man). I will say the book does a good job of creating plot twists and tying the stories together. I would not recommend this book to those that do not read about the trigger warning or to those unprepared for a story of extreme horror and pain.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Grief, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Death of parent, Excrement, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Rape, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Ableism, Abortion, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Please take this as a warning that all of the warning listed are most definitely taken to the extreme.

annihilatrix's review against another edition

dark funny 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

2.5

The writing is too good for the content to be so stupid! Potentially I don’t understand extreme horror, it’s so predictable if you’re capable of imagining the next disgusting thing that could happen.

Cramps after putting heroin in your gf’s vagina? Overdose miscarriage!
Anal sex? Messy prolapse!
Into masturbating with a mannequin? Make a dude into a mannequin by sanding his dick off! 
Having a sex worker dilate her vagina when you have mom issues? Stick your head up there for rebirthing!

These are all predictions I made while reading the opening premise of chapters that came true by their end. I might try another book by this author just to see if they have ever tried more compelling subject matter. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexual content, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Racism, and Vomit

kt_berg's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion and Sexual violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Body horror, and Addiction

Minor: Drug use and Medical trauma

abbsp222's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Addiction, Death, Abandonment, Abortion, Blood, Gore, Racial slurs, and Vomit

silverheartbookclub's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Abortion, Addiction, Gore, Death of parent, Murder, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Mental illness, Violence, Grief, Body horror, Death, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Excrement

Moderate: Infertility and Kidnapping

Minor: Abandonment and Body shaming

quietlex's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

• 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

This was pure shit. I bought this because I saw a tiktok video claiming that it was a really good horror novel, and now I’m disappointed to have wasted my money. The “Extreme Horror Novel” label on the cover really means “disgusting sexual assault” in a bunch of different ways. I’ve always hated “horror” that ends up being just a sick man’s sexual fantasies/traumas. You can write a good horror that incorporates the good and bad of sex, without having the entire book revolving around the gore and other atrocities that can happen. The title “Woom” is accurate since the thing is chock full of vagina! Each chapter has some horrible thing happening to a poor woman’s body. There’s absolutely nothing scary about this book, it’s just flat out gross. The story telling is awfully drab and boring, with vile things being described blandly in order to grab your attention. It doesn’t work. The only good thing about this book is that it is so short. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, Abortion, Addiction, Death, Abandonment, Medical content, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Child abuse, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

jaimee_reads's review against another edition

dark sad 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

0.5

This reminds me of that episode of South Park where Butters writes The Poop that Took a Pee. There is nothing horror about this book, just gross out, tragic stories strung together with a bunch of sex. There are lines in here that I know are meant to shock, but literally had me laughing. It's trying to tell a story about trauma, but again, laughing at how ridiculous it is. Rape is a big plot point in this book, which...it's horrifying enough, it didn't need whatever treatment this was. Also, the author is white, but has a black character call another black character the N word. It's a throw away insult line that didn't have to use specifically that word, and it felt like it was an opportunity for a white person to use it on a technicality. "I'm not calling him the N word, the black character is so it's ok." This was published in 2022. Read the woom. HA! But seriously, don't bother. It's pretty terrible.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, Excrement, Gore, Vomit, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Abortion, Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, and Pregnancy

dee_elizabeth's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Sexual content, Rape, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail