Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Sour Candy by Kealan Patrick Burke

22 reviews

togglesmcbobbins's review against another edition

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dark 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? It's complicated

4.5

A wild ride! This was definitely a fun, fast horror read. It wasn't too gross and was just creepy enough to keep my interest. I'm also happy the main characters were intelligent enough to make believable/mostly logical choices (rare in most horror).
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g_xandra's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • 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? No

4.0

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itsjustgrumpy's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Awesome little short story about a devil child. Surprisingly emotional and poignant too. Thank god I don't want kids.
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lexubetcha's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Rushed but solid story! Only complaint is that it wasn’t longer, would’ve loved to see some of the story a bit my fleshed out. Great spooky read.
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trking's review against another edition

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dark sad 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? Yes

2.75

This was pretty good, but way too rushed to actually develop any lore, which is a bummer to me. The concept was deeply cool, and Burke did a good job of developing a sense of dread throughout the book, but then the ending happened way too fast for my taste and things fell apart. I did like that
Cortez discovered a baby in the back of his car, although I'm not totally clear on how that happened if he didn't eat the candy. And also, what's the point of saddling the carriers with kids? Wouldn't it be more effective for the elders if the spawn just launch out of peoples' chests all of a sudden? I get that that kind of disassembles the central concept, but still.
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fuchsiaring's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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? No

3.75

A good, creepy story, but falls into the common horror-genre trap of thinly-veiled misogyny. The story is quite short, so there isn’t too much time spent on this, but it is slightly off putting and distracting. 
Still, a fast, easy read that satisfied my urge for a tense, unsettling page-turner. 
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julessssss's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No

1.0

this really didn't work for me - it felt really cliche and the writing itself at times was annoying to me (almost like parts were supposed to be humorous, but I didn't think they were)

the story probably could have used more page space to its benefit because all of the characters fell flat for me

also the section at the end about the detective's daughter?? there was no need for it and I am SICK of men writing random scenes about women (HIS DAUGHTER) doing sexual things for no reason

I think I may try another one of his works, especially because it seems like others like his stuff

overall, I was disappointed (thanks BookTok) 
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gunch's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny sad fast-paced
  • 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

4.0

Very much enjoyed this. Although it felt a but wordy and flowery at parts, overall it was a tight, fast paced little cosmic horror.
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bashsbooks's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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? No

3.5

Sour Candy was a fun and eerie short story. I enjoyed the more mundane aspects - in initial interaction at the store, the car accident, the discussion with the detectives - the most. When it edged into more direct eldritch horror, I found that I liked it a little less - the writing style (which is inverted in a way I find hard to describe) is better suited to the mundane.
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chellyfishing's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • 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

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