Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Severance by Ling Ma

45 reviews

mirrorbug's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

Somehow I got it into my head that this was a tragicomedy when that is not what it was. Humor was not in the forefront, but it had its moments. I'd like to read it again without that preconception. Still really enjoyed it. Candace is a character I grew to respect more than anything and the worldbuilding was fantastic. It's crazy this book was released preCOVID, you definitely see some similarities there. I think the parts of seeing the apocalypse start to unfold felt so realistic and were definitely my favorite chapters in the book. Definitely worth the read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Murder, Sexual content, Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Racism, Chronic illness, Grief, and Body horror

skyba3's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Stalking, Suicide, Terminal illness, Child death, Dementia, Grief, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Death, Gore, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Body horror, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Confinement

Moderate: Blood, Drug use, Classism, Addiction, Racism, Alcohol, Vomit, Drug abuse, and Cursing

joensign's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicide, Confinement, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Gore, and Death

Moderate: Body horror and Pregnancy

kather_doc's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Confinement, Pregnancy, Drug use, Death, Body horror, and Gaslighting

kelsokake's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

left me feeling pensive and almost like i would gain more after a reread

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Confinement

literaryliaisons's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, and Death

ru_th's review against another edition

adventurous sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The past is a black hole, cut into the present day like a wound, and if you come too close, you can get sucked in. You have to keep moving.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Pregnancy and Suicide

Minor: Body horror, Xenophobia, Death, Death of parent, and Dementia

erinpoo's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

“A second chance doesn't mean you're in the clear. In many ways, it is the more difficult thing. Because a second chance means that you have to try harder. You must rise to the challenge without the blind optimism of ignorance.” 

i really thought i might like this a bit more going into it a second time and because i am in dire need of a copy of bliss montage but! all feelings about this novel remained the same (which is not really a bad thing) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Death

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Racism, Suicide, and Xenophobia

Minor: Gun violence

avilareads's review against another edition

reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

there were things i enjoyed about this novel (mainly its reflections on capitalism, family, and the interesting concept of the fevered) but the present tense portions of the book didn’t do much for me other than make me deeply uncomfortable. 
huge trigger warning for confinement in this novel that i had no idea of beforehand!
overall, a unique book with a captivating narrator. if it wasn’t for her flashbacks and insights on society i would not have finished this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Death, Pregnancy, Xenophobia, Body horror, and Suicide

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book was eerily prescient for what was to come during the COVID-19 pandemic, given that it came out in 2018. This book elicited an interesting emotional response in me, overall leaving me feeling reflective and adrift.

While firmly in the dystopian fiction genre, what I found unique was that this read more like a character study than anything. We follow the main character Candace Chen’s reflections on her life, moving back and forth through each point in her life that were mini-apocalypses in themselves, as her worlds as she knew them collapse. 

As a Chinese immigrant who moved to the U.S. when she was 6, themes of belonging/unbelonging resonate strongly throughout this novel, and are elements that give richness to the decisions she made and the points she gets to in her life.

I think what really added to my love of this book was the narrator Nancy Wu’s approach to characterizing Candace. Her style was a sort of a resigned deadpan, which I felt added a depth to the character that I don’t know I would’ve gotten from the tree book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Dementia, Medical content, Suicide, Violence, Body horror, Death, Confinement, Grief, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Car accident