Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen

79 reviews

hannahpings's review against another edition

funny medium-paced

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

2.75

picked up patricia because i wanted to read the book the cover blurbs were raving about. i still want to read that book. this is not that book.

self-indulgent and dragging first and second acts are so caught up in the characters, complexes, and institutions they're lampooning that they end up almost as vapid and certainly as weightless. satire requires clarity of purpose and target etc etc 

was originally going to give this a 2.5, but a satisfying—if unearned, and unsubstantiated—third act brought it up a bit.

ultimately, i can't help but feel like this is a book that's begging to get picked up for a movie deal, which would probably be the best fate for it. it'd certainly make a better (clearer, better constructed, more precise) movie than it does a novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Addiction, Body horror, Car accident, Death, Violence, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Abortion

Minor: Homophobia and Lesbophobia

gruhuken's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful fast-paced

• 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

3.5

I really love this kind of horror. I had a lot of fun reading this; the humour was pretty funny, it had a few really scary moments and the ending was surprisingly sweet. It felt a little too short, I wanted to know way more about the strange main character (what the hell was she even doing on the dating show to begin with??). The second half is where it becomes a slasher but I also felt that went by far too quickly, as if it was trying to get the characters out of the way rather than giving time to breathe within kills. A lot of questions, especially about the members of the island group, went unanswered in a way that didn't satisfy me. Would recommend this though, if not just for a quick, weird and funny queer read about. Found family? And sasquatches.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Car accident, Death, Murder, Violence, and Gore

Moderate: Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Alcoholism, Bullying, Grief, and Gun violence

Minor: Abortion, Kidnapping, Cancer, Sexual content, Racism, and Animal cruelty

Strong descriptions of violence, body mutilation and murder committed by a sasquatch creature. A character is grieving the death of her wife from cancer (this is mentioned in the beginning of the book). Some minor misogyny and racism towards the main character from a shitty guy, and some mild homophobia from a religious character. One mention of the D slur. Another character is mentioned multiple times to have alcohol problems. The main warning I would give is the gore: although the book retains a playful and comedic tone, there's a lot of dismemberment and bludgeoning

chasingpages1's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Car accident, Blood, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, Gore, Alcoholism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Abortion, Biphobia, Suicide, Sexual content, Outing, and Grief

llyfrauginger's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Violence, Murder, and Gun violence

Moderate: Alcohol and Alcoholism

Minor: Racism, Abortion, Cancer, Terminal illness, Suicide, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia

zarap's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

Tl;dr: Definitely glad I read it, probably won't reread it, am eager to see what Samantha Allen writes next.

This was a deeply weird book (and I love deeply weird books). I feel like the first half could've been shorter, and/or maybe the second half longer? Room for pacing improvement anyway, but I really enjoyed it overall.

I liked that all the contestants are complicated and at least a little problematic, but that Casey is also problematic in her broad-strokes, cynical criticism of the contestants as a whole.

The characters could have been a little more fleshed out generally in my opinion, but having just read books by Ann Leckie and Martha Wells and having Libba Bray in mind - all of whom have written several to a bunch of novels, whereas this is the author's debut novel - I am perhaps comparing unfairly, if unavoidably. (Libba Bray because this book immediately made me think of Beauty Queens.) 

Also, I love to read a horror book where the only character from the main group who survives is the Black bisexual woman.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Car accident, Violence, Blood, and Gun violence

lovelylilelle's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Murder, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Car accident

Moderate: Abortion, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, and Alcoholism

behindpaperbacks's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Car accident, Violence, Blood, Gore, Lesbophobia, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Abortion

beanmilkcantread's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

a reality show a la the bachelor! heteronormativity! producers producing! lesbian love letters! bisexuals! remote mountain/island getaway! horror! switching pov! women!!!!!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Alcoholism, Blood, Car accident, Alcohol, Gore, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence, Bullying, Homophobia, Cursing, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Cancer and Abortion

irelivar's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Blood

haleea's review against another edition

funny tense medium-paced

4.0

oh Patricia, you’ve always been my north staaaar

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Violence, Blood, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Abortion, Homophobia, and Racism