Scan barcode
helenope's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.5
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Pedophilia, and Rape
lizardgod's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Physical abuse, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Homophobia, Murder, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Trafficking, Drug abuse, and Transphobia
johnsaysjulia's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Bullying, and Excrement
cryscries's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Murder, Blood, and Self harm
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt
I feel like the contents of this book ranges from moderate - graphic. There is a character who is attracted to eli named Hänkan - his perspectives can be very uncomfortable to read because he does go into a bit of detail about his attraction in the beginning of the book when he is somewhat introduced to attempting to r word eli towards the end of the book. Eli’s past holds a lot of trauma but does not glorify it in any way of anything it’s more character background of their past but can also be uncomfortable to read. Bits and pieces in the book talk about suicide and self harm from characters who are being bullied or depressed from oskar and eli— though Virginia is a tw for self harm because of what she is going through in the story.vixenreader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Classism, Death, Pedophilia, Torture, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Outing
Moderate: Animal death, Alcoholism, Cursing, Homophobia, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Sexual content
Minor: Abandonment, Excrement, Racial slurs, and Vomit
There is a graphic scene of a young boy being castrated, and the pedophilia in the book is quite prevalent. The gender identity in the book will bring up a lot of issues in terms of representation of trans youth. Plus there is some scenes featuring unintentional urination.linddykal's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Gore, Violence, Bullying, Alcoholism, and Blood
meereswogen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Suicide, Alcoholism, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gore, Murder, Violence, Vomit, Bullying, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Pedophilia
noble_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
The ending left a little to he desired in my opinion, open. I'll definitely pick up the collection of short stories which is supposed to include a sequel.
Graphic: Blood, Sexual violence, Gore, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Excrement, Medical trauma, Murder, Medical content, Torture, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Vomit, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Self harm
carrionkid's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Blood, Body horror, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, and Child abuse
seawarrior's review against another edition
4.0
While the first half of the book is rather slow-paced, I never felt that it was tedious to read. This pleasantly surprised me since I typically avoid books of this length. As the story progresses, we are introduced to a variety of characters whose lives start to converge due to Eli's innocent yet ruthless will to survive. Lindqvist provides a humanity to each of these characters, even the ones who are most despicable or only show up on a few pages. Any scene from Håkan's perspective was disgusting to read, though he is thankfully tortured throughout the narrative and never given a moment of peace. It was definitely rewarding to envision him growing more and more grotesquely wounded throughout the corse of the book.
The second half of the novel was paced quicker, and by the last hundred pages I felt it impossible to put the book down as I prepared to go into work. Though horrific and mysteriously worrying, the book is given a satisfying ending in line with the themes of youth providing a film over the reality of violence and toxic romance. This was a unique, memorable horror story that deserves the international interest that has swirled around it since its release.
Graphic: Blood, Pedophilia, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual assault