Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

The Troop by Nick Cutter

63 reviews

poop_scoop's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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: Cursing, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Murder, Vomit, Suicide, Stalking, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Self harm, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Bullying

j_m_alexander's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

1.75

 NOPE! - nope, nope, nope.

Body horror, animal harm, and overly descriptive scenes written with the explicit intention of raising the bile straight up your gullet. Can't say the writing is itself is bad exactly, so thus not a 1-star, but oof I REALLY did NOT like this book. This is a straight up book of grotesqueries that tries to toy with ideas of psychological terror, that I just didn't find successful within the context of the relentless squelching bodily fluid wallowing imagery. The premise is what drew me in, but after a while it seemed like the boys slid back into caricatures (it's like Cutter said "have your read The Body or Lord of the Flies, and/or seen the respective movies? -- it's pretty much some of those kids with a touch of a more youthful and messier American Psycho") and the order of operations were fairly predictable I found.

In reflection I recognize that what I look for most from horror these days is building tension and I am not as big of a fan of overt body horror, so this is maybe just the opposite of my current preferences. I have specifically identified that possession stories are something I am just NOT into, and really this is a possession story, a different take on possession, but possession none-the-less. Intermittently Cutter broke in with after-the-fact reports and testimonies, he mentioned being inspired by Carrie, and I can't decide if these helped or hurt the book; often they worked as a pallet cleansers from all the revulsion by inserting plain reportage, but they also depleted momentum... not sure if the trade off was worth it. I did find myself wanting to stop at points so maybe I would have made this a rare DNF if not for those breaks in the story, but then again maybe I would have sped through it instead of the stopping and starting as I ended up doing, making the choppiness even more pronounced.

Carrie apparently was an inspiration of sorts, but that book was punchier and King managed development with economy, while this book seemed sickeningly bloated, squishy, and somewhat flat. The more direct King comparison to make would be Dreamcatcher, which was also not my cup of tea, but in hindsight (and comparatively) is not so bad, certainly I think it's a better take on the basic premise of this other type of possession in the context of a group of friends in a secluded setting.

If you like detailed descriptions of slow horrific death and have a strong stomach (or enjoy the sensation of wanting to toss your cookies), then maybe this is a good book for you! Not a good book for me as it turns out.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Self harm, Terminal illness, Violence, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Death

Moderate: Medical trauma, Medical content, Cursing, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Grief, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse

voxlunae's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Man, this book is fucking gross. So disturbing sometimes. I grimaced through whole scenes, several times. However, I really enjoyed the writing and I burned through it in two sittings. I always advocate for more diverse characters and strong female characters, but given that this is about Boy Scouts and inspired by Lord of the Flies, the homogeneity isn't surprising. I give it a pass. Really taut storytelling, a horrifying threat, some heartbreaking scenes, and all the skin-crawling disgust you could ask for.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Body horror, Body shaming, Pandemic/Epidemic, Gore, and Self harm

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, and Homophobia

Minor: Abandonment, Bullying, Confinement, Cannibalism, and Cursing

greendaynerd's review

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Gore, Torture, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, and Death

rosaelia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-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

Wow, this one was absolutely amazing.
I dropped (not DNF'd; I'll pick it back up eventually) Cows for this one. And boy oh boy, am I glad that I did.

I grew to love

the last character, Max.

The ending was somewhat confusing, though?

Did Max end up actually infected? If so, how? Did the worms stay dormant and hidden inside of him somehow?

Anyway, it was a fabulous read! Sort of a slow start once it focuses on the boys, but it was very worth it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Gore, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Fatphobia, Death, Self harm, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Eating disorder, Child death, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Torture, and Mental illness

Moderate: Cursing and Vomit

Minor: Excrement and Alcohol

silverwings95's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Confinement, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical content, Suicide, Body shaming, Bullying, Gore, Murder, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Child death

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Confinement, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Cursing, Mental illness, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Excrement

lollipup's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.75

The beginning of the book absolutely hooked me. It was disgusting and scary in all the right ways. But I got lost along the way when it became more like a take on Lord of the Flies. Also if you can't handle animal cruelty and violence (like me) you will probably have to skip over certain parts or dnf as I almost did. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Fatphobia, Cursing, Animal death, Self harm, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Gore, and Torture

that_cow_girl's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This book simultaneously disgusted me and broke my heart. It didn’t take long for things to start happening and then it just kept coming. This book literally wormed its way into my head and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It also referenced Anne of Green Gables twice which is my favorite book, and I thought it was hilarious that THIS was the book it was referenced in. I loved the characters of the Scouts. Each boy was so unique and fascinating. I DID have to skip the part about

Shelley killing his mom’s cat. I can handle a lot of gore and all that, but cats and dogs I can’t handle. I also sobbed my eyes out at the part with the turtle.

if you like nasty books, consider this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Medical trauma, Cursing, Fatphobia, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Police brutality, Torture, Animal death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Gaslighting, Self harm, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Child death, Eating disorder, Confinement, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Abandonment, Gore, Grief, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship

lilitalybabe's review

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Grief, Murder, Violence, Gore, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Torture, Animal death, Death, Fatphobia, Excrement, Self harm, Cursing, Pandemic/Epidemic, Vomit, and Physical abuse

amsswim's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

If you are into horror I highly recommend this one. Atmosphere and story were there for me even listening to the audiobook, gave me chills a few times lol. Def go through the trigger warnings though as needed, the descriptions were detailed. Alternating POVs were really good here too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Vomit, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Cursing, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Terminal illness, Torture, Body shaming, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Death, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Animal death, Body horror, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Addiction, Cannibalism, Cancer, Abandonment, and Vomit