Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite

89 reviews

waverlyloyd's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Homophobia, Incest, Addiction, Excrement, Physical abuse, Self harm, Kidnapping, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Body horror, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual harassment, Murder, Pedophilia, Torture, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, and Violence

clevelandbookgirl's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, Infidelity, Blood, Confinement, Murder, Mental illness, Body horror, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death, Gore, Sexual violence, Rape, Racism, Cannibalism, Excrement, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Violence, Pedophilia, Addiction, Sexual content, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Torture, Terminal illness, Racial slurs, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Incest

Minor: Animal death

smilingsammie's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Addiction, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Drug use, Physical abuse, Suicide, Blood, Cannibalism, Rape, Sexual assault, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Police brutality, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Self harm, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Cursing, and Injury/Injury detail

sammysamsam's review against another edition

dark tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug use, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Blood, Classism, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Stalking, Cannibalism, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Torture, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Rape, Sexual content, Gore, Incest, Outing, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Vomit, Xenophobia, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death of parent, Excrement, Misogyny, Colonisation, and Slavery

floorsalad's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Got to the halfway point and couldn't put it down. Grotesquely explicit and deliciously queer. Would be a 5 star read without the racism.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Drug use, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Sexual violence, Torture, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Rape, Mental illness, and Suicide

nittiotvaan's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Drug use, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Torture, Murder, Rape, Vomit, Confinement, Death, Terminal illness, Drug abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Racism, Sexual assault, and Homophobia

Moderate: Grief, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Racial slurs, and Domestic abuse

millawi's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Gore, Vomit, Body horror, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Addiction, Drug use, Excrement, Incest, Kidnapping, Medical content, Racial slurs, and Racism

booksofautumn's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Incest, Kidnapping, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Alcohol, Murder, Pregnancy, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

frantasticmissfox's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

4.0

Gory, disturbing, and intense but beautifully written and captivating story of the worst of humanity. Only recommend this book to hardcore horror fans, as it is one of the most vivid books I’ve ever read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Body horror, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Stalking, Torture, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Rape, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Suicide, Hate crime, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Violence, and Vomit

nexadon's review against another edition

challenging dark funny sad fast-paced

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

4.5

The peak of an ultra-specific genre, strongly reminiscent of regular non-horrific 90's gay pornography with some charming twists. Each and every introduced character is in some way a tragic figure, so do not go into this book expecting goodness and naivety to be rewarded by the narrative.
My only criticism would be directed at the unbalanced nature of the cast and the length of the book (which go hand in hand).
Character talk (DEFINITELY SPOILERS):

While I like Andrew's exclusive access to first person pronouns in the narration because it makes his sections that much more ominous, characters like Luke and Tran who would have benefited from deeper development feel that much flatter in comparison. Luke is the source of my biggest gripes, I feel like a book exclusively focused on him would have drawn me effortlessly, but his role in Exquisite Corpse is a little bit annoying. I love his hateful and "offscreen" monstrous nature, but within the pages of the book he feels rather useless, almost like a bridge between Jay and Andrew and the audience, not "that bad" but still patently reprehensible enough that he's difficult to like.
Tran also seems to suffer a little bit from a similar problem, in that his role as a perfect victim seems to consume his agency. I suppose this is part of his character, but if he has the self-determination to essentially "disown" himself and stay away from Luke I should not be this unimpressed by his efforts to escape. I get that Brite wanted Jay to have his Dahmer moment at the climax of the book, but felt that it sacrificed some clarity in the prose and sunk Tran's character at his final moment to "shine" so to speak. I dont have a lot to say about Jay, hes a bit of a sexy Hannibal Lecter shaped lamp.

Anyways! :3 While the graphic nature of this book cannot be understated, I challenge you to examine the lighthearted elements as well, I honestly found some parts of if... kinda cute!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Blood, Gore, Suicide, and Torture

Minor: Incest

Incest content is either superficial (Two sexually involved characters lie about being cousins) or mentioned in passing and NOT unpacked (a character is quite blase about his past sexual relationship with his brother.) HIVAIDs and characters having, living with, infecting eachother with, and dying of AIDS is central to the plot of this book.