Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite

83 reviews

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

naomymarr's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Torture, Gore, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Body horror, Cannibalism, Blood, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, and Misogyny

Minor: Incest and Pedophilia

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

nightmare_maven'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

3.0

The gore was almost too much for me omg

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, and Gore

Moderate: Police brutality and Homophobia

Minor: Suicide and Incest

loki's review against another edition

dark tense

• 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

This book is disgusting and upsetting and physically difficult to read and I LOVE that.

However, at times it felt like it was being deliberately provocative, rather than provocative in the service of the overall artistry of the book. Not that I fault the author for that - I think every queer creator should create art as disgusting as they want it to be - but it did affect my enjoyment of the book personally. There were also some elements of the discourse around race and homophobia that felt a little off colour, but in all honesty I would need to do more research to comment on that intelligently. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Classism, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Cursing, and Homophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism and Racism

liyanakey's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Gore, Toxic relationship, Blood, Drug use, Death, Murder, Body horror, Suicide, and Rape

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.

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

Moderate: Racial slurs, Police brutality, and Self harm

Minor: Incest and Slavery