Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

The Sluts by Dennis Cooper

41 reviews

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

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

aknaag's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

4.75

Girl…. This was something… and this was a lot.

The setting and the pacing of this book and overall layout is different to conventional books, it’s fun, which I enjoyed! 

Idk if it’s because of the way I downloaded it but the authors name and the book title  weirdly appears in the middle of almost every page that caught me off guard sm times, idk if it’s downloaded error or something but I got used it midway so that’s fine.

The plot…. Ugh the plot.. deplorable. So tragic and just makes you question and shake your head at humanity honestly.

There’s this spectrum in which sex is written and viewed in books, it’s either realistically romantic and spicy or realistically degrading and abhorrent. And it was very much the latter. At least that’s how I felt. Just needed a shower and the strong feel to be celibate.

Tragic character/(s) but such an interesting rabbit hole of a mystery. The way it kept unfolding really had me gagged. Just overall, the plot ATE. 

If you’re a person with a ding dong, going to read this book? I highly suggest you mentally prepare for it because the detailed scenes of violence sometimes became too much for me and I can’t imagine how you’d feel having a wiener.

Honestly, this ATE. I finished it in a DAY. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Suicide, Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Sexual assault, Torture, Drug use, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, and Vomit

angelicardale's review against another edition

this book is disgusting honestly lol .. exquisite corpse had more tact than a single page of this book did (and that was another one-star book for me). i hate that i had no idea what i was getting myself into. for all the graphic and horrific depictions of pedophilia and csa in this book (that read less like tragedy and more like torture p0rn, tbh), i really really wish it'd been explicitly stated in the blurb, or at the very least, in a content warnings list ANYWHERE in the book. there's not even an author's note. as a writer, i understand to a certain degree, but it's just plain negligent to not warn readers or categorize it in the right genre !!!! this was under general fiction at barnes & noble. it should be considered splatterpunk tbh. anyway screw tiktok for recommending me this book it was awful and not worth finishing imo.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Self harm, Rape, Alcohol, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Domestic abuse, Death, Chronic illness, Addiction, Pedophilia, Blood, Trafficking, Violence, Terminal illness, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Medical trauma, Child death, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Body horror, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Medical content, Hate crime, Gun violence, and Drug abuse

kiiromitsubachi's review against another edition

dark sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Cancer, Confinement, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Torture, Trafficking, and Self harm

finleyfrogreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Trafficking, Murder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, and Drug use

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Terminal illness, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Vomit, Alcohol, Death, Excrement, and Suicide

josephsand's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

 insanely gripping and completely unputdownable.. 

the last third is some of the nastiest, most stomach turning stuff i’ve ever read. my jaw was agape the entire time. totally vile & expertly told, what a story…

the content warnings are not a joke this book is filthy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Addiction, Gun violence, Murder, Drug use, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Blood, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Gore, Kidnapping, Body horror, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Vomit

kibernick's review against another edition

challenging dark funny 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

3.5

A very interesting medium for storytelling - the story is told through reviews on a gay escort site in the early 2000s. It gets very dark, very quickly. The book is extremely transgressive, please check a long list of content warnings. 

Certain passages reminded me of stumbling across disturbing blogs and websites back in the day, that left me scarred for days. I had trouble remembering who was who or who was real, but I think that was what the author was going for (maybe profile photos would’ve helped :) ). 

Overall the book is an interesting read, if only to see how transgressive and innovative writers can be (which can be refreshing). Would be curious to check out the author's other works.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Violence, Emotional abuse, Cancer, Cannibalism, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Rape, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Terminal illness, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Blood, Murder, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Death, Drug use, and Excrement

slintangel's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Rape, Murder, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Pedophilia, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual content