Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

The Ritual by Adam L.G. Nevill

31 reviews

cameronpetrovich's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.75

It says a lot about an author’s faith in their audience to interpret their writing(s) when you spend multiple chapters in a row with minimal to no dialogue or story in favor of describing rooms and scenery. It’s definitely not the worst, but doing all that just to have an ambiguous ending feels disjointed. 

I’d also like to add I’m not sure if the misogyny and fat phobia are characteristics of the characters or the author, but you can’t write that without projecting. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Fatphobia

nnylelocin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Body horror, Blood, Gore, and Torture

roxanne_jv's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Fatphobia

charlieeee's review against another edition

dark tense slow-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? No

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Body shaming, Cursing, Xenophobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Fatphobia, Religious bigotry, Confinement, and Sexism

Minor: Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, and Kidnapping

The first part was fabulous. Some really good examinations of people growing apart; philosophy of life (for male-socialised people anyway); it was tense and had some great metaphors and other strong writing. And then part two happened where I would have sworn I was reading a completely different book altogether! The metaphors were over the top, made no sense in the context of the scene and the characters were really stereotypical - and the less about ‘Surtr’ and the constant repetition about her breasts, body and ‘smell’ of her genitalia the better. Was so disappointed by part two. So so disappointed.

And the reveal of the big beastie ‘the god’ in the woods at the end was such a let down. Everything was leading up to this point and the pay off was so disappointing - we barely get a paragraph. There’s letting your mind fill in the blanks and then there’s this.

broccoli_aesthetics's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

The first part in the woods is very tense and interesting. The stalking creature is damn scary and the characters are flashed out really well. Unfortunately I feel that the second part of the book falls flat:

the black metal band is honestly too stereotyped to be interesting

and I felt like it killed the mood.
The book then gets better again near the end

with moder and the white children

Overall, i still enjoyed the book quite a bit. 4/5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Body horror, and Blood

Minor: Fatphobia, Body shaming, Racism, and Homophobia

snazzy10101's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

the vibes are wonderful (including the second half with the black metal band, i liked the change of pace) and the descriptions are baller. 
however. none of the characters are remotely likeable, and there are 2  female characters (one old lady, and one teen girl who is fat shamed AND sexualised).
there’s a lot of fat phobia 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Violence, Death, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Gore, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Murder, Addiction, Alcohol, Grief, Antisemitism, and Cultural appropriation

pastelbread's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Animal death, Death, Violence, Body horror, Blood, Torture, Fatphobia, Excrement, and Addiction

bumblebeefarts's review against another edition

 It just seems like the author really dislikes both fat people and women. Don’t even get him started on fat women. 

On top of all that, it’s way longer than it needed to be. Broken up by some scary moments in the first half that made me hope it would be worth finishing. This hope was unfounded. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Fatphobia, Misogyny, Sexism, and Ableism

Minor: Alcohol and Alcoholism

seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Homophobia, Gun violence, Violence, Death, Gore, Blood, Cursing, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death

thanatotics's review

challenging dark tense medium-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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny and Fatphobia