Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite

74 reviews

marlowe_reads's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

4.75

Grotesque, disturbing, fun read. Not for the squeamish. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Terminal illness, Violence, Cannibalism, and Murder

priceliketag's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Incest, and Police brutality

chersonese's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated

4.75

At time of writing this review I still need to finish Poppy's other work but after reading Exquisite Corpse I doubt anything else will have the same impact on me. 

It's brutal, realistically so, certainly not for anyone who struggles with graphic and sexual violence, but it works within the confines of the story. I'd already made peace with Tran not making it out alive as soon as he stumbled into Jay and Andrews grasp, but I didn't think I'd feel the sense of loss I did when reading the passage leading to his demise.

 
  This book is beautifully grotesque and will stick with anyone who reads it, for better or for worse.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, and Suicide attempt

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

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

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

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

korvakoira's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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

1.25

I know it was written in the 90s but it is painfully 90s especially when it comes to HIV and AIDS, it really stigmatizes the diseases and paints everyone who has the diseases as ‘evil’ 

SPOILERS/LONG RANT

i can see why ppl enjoy it (to an extent but not really), but someone who’s favorite book is tender is flesh i understand how it feels to have a book with sexual assault and cannibalism in it and trying to be like ITS GOOD GUYS I SWEAR
but exquisite corpse, wasn’t that. it was just a splatterpunk’s wet dream with slurs sprinkled in that the author CANNOT SAY BTW……… 
the book is paced reallt weird like we get introduced to all the characters and their lives and then 60% into the book the actual plot plot starts to yaknow, be written. 60% explanation 40% execution… and that’s being generous
it felt very low key racist at times…. the main cast is 3 white men and 1 vietnamese man. guess which one is framed as ‘innocent’ and ‘exotic’ and is the only one that is violently raped and murdered 😑 yeah…… the Vietnamese character 
ALSO. HIV AND AIDS IS A VERY VITAL PART OF THE BOOK????? i can sort of see why but like then everyone brushes it off but also like, idk, the author frames ppl with HIV and AIDS as monsters… even going so far that the 3 horrible abusive murderous main characters have AIDS and the ‘pure and innocent’ POC character doesn’t <- he is almost given AIDS several times in the book in sexual ways and it comes off as borderline fetishy at times ?!
it also rubs me the wrong way that all the characters are gay when this happens, like cool gay men but also WHY ARE TOU PORTRAYING THEM AS MONSTERS…. HUH⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️
i don’t know, it’s a fucked up book which is fine to write, things can and should push people’s comfort levels, but challenge them in meaningful ways not just
GORE GORE MURDER RAPE GORE CANNIBALISM GORE .. fuck it got exhausting after a while, i had to put the book done and just drink some water bc it was just, so edgy, i think i got cut while reading it
REVIEW WRITTEN BY TRANS POC LESBIAN

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Murder, and Alcohol

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

worksneakers's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

desertlurker's review against another edition

dark sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, Outing, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racial slurs, Self harm, and Police brutality

Minor: Incest and Slavery