Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Sluts by Dennis Cooper

15 reviews

xwritingstoriesx's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Pedophilia, Blood, Drug abuse, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Violence, Domestic abuse, Rape, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Trafficking

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Excrement

jemmers's review against another edition

Too many characters and a convoluted storyline. I thought it was cool at first trying to piece this, albeit fucked up, mystery together from escort reviews and discussion board posts. But there are WAY too many characters to keep track of. My brain felt like that Pepe Silvia meme. The mental work to figure out who snuffed who, if any snuffing actually occurred at all, is not worth it, imo. Like I just don’t care enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Stalking, Torture, Violence, Blood, Gore, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Alcohol, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Kidnapping, Terminal illness, Trafficking, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Sexual violence, Mental illness, and Pregnancy

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

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

chucksbooks_'s review against another edition

challenging dark 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

1.5

it was very intense. was not for me. it felt like there was an onslaught of information from the get go and i couldnt keep up with who was who within 10 pages of starting. it felt like it went to the extremes for the sake of it and didnt feel like there was any reason behind any of the novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Drug use, Death, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Vomit, Trafficking, Pedophilia, Violence, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Mental illness, Excrement, Hate crime, Confinement, Homophobia, Gaslighting, and Drug abuse

remghoul's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Violence, Body horror, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual assault, Gore, Torture, and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Gaslighting, Addiction, and Drug abuse

Minor: Pregnancy, Excrement, Medical content, Toxic relationship, 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

bunbobabe's review against another edition

dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Murder, Pedophilia, Cursing, Physical abuse, Rape, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Body horror, Excrement, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Torture

Moderate: Vomit and Terminal illness

Minor: Suicide attempt and Cancer

alex17's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Rape, Domestic abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

wormariwood's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Gore, Medical trauma, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Addiction, Sexual content, Stalking, Torture, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Drug use, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, and Excrement