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booksofautumn's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Incest, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Stalking, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
frantasticmissfox's review against another edition
- 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
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
nexadon's review against another edition
- 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
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):
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!
Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
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
- 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
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
pippakendrickk's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Vomit, Police brutality, and Alcohol
kermitdafrog's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
finleyfrogreads's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Stalking, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
pascalracobene's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
libbooksby's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Cannibalism, and Murder
thesawyerbean's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This was absolutely repugnant to read, and frankly not enjoyable. The characters all sucked in their own ways, some more than others obviously - the discourse on HIV/AIDS was heinous and the grotesque descriptions of carrion and murder were horrifyingly indulgent. The love affair with abuse that all the characters (even the good ones) seemed to foster was gross as well.
I’m not naïve in expecting this book to be pleasant reading, but it could’ve been done in such a better way. This was just literal torture porn. In addition one of the fundamental plot points is just… unbelievable? Andrew somehow managing to basically die without actually dying, getting the better of actual medical professionals and then coming back to consciousness at the exact right time? Sure. Made the whole book even more ridiculous.
I wouldn’t recommend this even if it was good, but it wasn’t. So what’s the point?
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism