Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Sluts by Dennis Cooper

80 reviews

j_yarbrough's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Stalking, Abortion, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Addiction, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Vomit, Blood, Death, Hate crime, Incest, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Chronic illness, Drug use, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Medical content, Cancer, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Slavery, and Violence

ginger_curmudgeon's review against another edition

dark

• Loveable characters? No

3.75

I’ve read some pretty weird or twisted books. I enjoy them sometimes. “The Sluts” might be the most twisted that I have read, and, yes, I enjoyed it. I couldn’t put it down. I read it in two evenings. 

One of the things that made it a quicker read is the structure. The story opens as a series of online reviews about a male escort. There’s a section that’s a message board on the same website, a section of emails, and then another section of reviews. 

Part of the story is the growing depravity of the men reviewing, discussing and debating the escort and his pimp/handler/co-conspirator. Another part of the story is that you’re not entirely sure what’s real and what isn’t. There’s a conspiracy/con or two at play throughout the novel. 

There’s not a lot of humanity found in these characters. They’re fairly awful people. But, is this all just a reflection of how horrible people can be in real life and/or of how the internet has given people a forum to explore the dark corners of their minds? Either way, Cooper certainly knows how to keep your attention while showing a dark side of life. 

TW: sexual assault, graphic violence, taboo

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual content

paulus_on_the_rocks's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Voir les TW (j'insiste lourdement)

J'ai ouvert le bouquin en me disant joyeusement, enfin un auteur qui ne se fout pas de notre gueule quand il décide d'écrire du cul. Oh boy. Cooper ne se fout pas de notre gueule sur absolument aucun sujet.

C'est à la fois le roman le plus horrible et le plus intelligent que j'ai lu depuis très, très longtemps, si ce n'est toujours. J'ai vraiment hésité à lui mettre un full five stars car ce n'est absolument pas un livre que je conseillerais (cf le nombre ahurissant de TW) mais, en même temps, je l'ai trouvé extrêmement intéressant du point de vue narratif.

Si vous n'avez pas l'estomac fragile et que vous aimez le concept de unreliable narrator, foncez, mais j'insiste : ce n'est vraiment, vraiment pas du petit lait, le livre est extrêmement graphique.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Excrement, Gore, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Rape, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Violence, Vomit, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Body horror, Chronic illness, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, and Toxic relationship

paigie_pie's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, Sexual content, Drug use, Rape, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Death, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Torture, Self harm, Blood, Murder, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Adult/minor relationship, and Addiction

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Cancer, Pregnancy, Homophobia, Cursing, Suicide, and Excrement

saccharinewoe's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

insane, depraved, disturbing, morbid, literally every synonym related to these words runs through my head as i reflect on this. but it used the epistolary format so well to explore the depravity of human beings and the pervasiveness of sexual violence in internet culture due to anonymity (more specifically in the early 2000s but its still like this now). at the heart of this is the basis of interactions on the internet and how easily a lie can become the truth - if enough people believe in it. i can't say i enjoyed this because it genuinely describes like the most fucked up things that could happen to a person but i do recognise it for what it is and what it imparted.

idk how to trigger warn this sufficiently because i feel like it requires like every single trigger warning under the sun 😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Terminal illness and Adult/minor relationship

msdiamar's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Cancer, Pedophilia, Excrement, Gore, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Terminal illness, Addiction, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Homophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, and Vomit

lovesimon's review against another edition

5.0

This book was so hard to read, but so gripping I couldn't put it down. Really interesting exploration of sexuality, Internet culture, and the psychological profile of the Internet scammer which is a type of person I find endlessly fascinating. Really cool play with form. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Pedophilia, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Homophobia, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Death, Rape, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Sexual violence, Excrement, Drug use, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, and Body horror

bthrds's review against another edition

3.0

this was a trip and i definitely didn't enjoy it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Body horror, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Death, Gore, and Murder

corvidcopia's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, and Torture

dannycrimes's review against another edition

dark funny

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

4.75

You know those books that are fantastic, but you cannot ever tell another human being to read them? This is one of those. Brilliantly written whilst being incredibly tough to get through. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Mental illness

Moderate: Terminal illness and Chronic illness

Brief but graphic depictions of deliberate spreading of HIV