Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Discomfort of Evening by Lucas Rijneveld

25 reviews

melissaroos's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

The book made me uncomfortable, true to it's title. But I somehow did kind of like it. The writing style sucks you into the book and you do want to know what the characters will do. It's not for the faint of heart

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Eating disorder, Gore, Grief, Death, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Suicide, Mental illness, Child abuse, Self harm, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Incest

hotgirleliott's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, and Incest

bumble_abi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

The time I spent reading this kept flipping between underwhelm and admiration - completely unlike anything I've read before and increasingly unhinged (but that's the point, right?). Not a huge amount actually happens but I kept reading because the tone is one of suspension, emotion unresolved, and I had to know where it landed. Fortunately it DID land somewhere (I did wonder if Rijneveld was going to leave us hanging there, it would have been a valid artistic choice imo) and when it did it totally winded me. A deeply uncomfortable novel punctuated by moments of brilliant sunlight, wildly sad and grotesque and somehow shining for it all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, Animal cruelty, Child death, Body horror, and Animal death

Moderate: Suicide

judythedreamer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Self harm, Vomit, Body horror, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Grief, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Excrement, Incest, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Suicide, Violence, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Rape

jytteanne's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Violence, Vomit, Abortion, Excrement, Grief, and Self harm

meaghanelizabook's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Eating disorder, Grief, Sexual content, Suicide, Death, Excrement, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Child death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Violence, Vomit, Cursing, Incest, Toxic friendship, Blood, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment

rosalind's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Grief, Xenophobia, Animal death, Child death, Excrement, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Body horror, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Death of parent

arwenaardbeienstruik's review against another edition

dark emotional tense

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Eating disorder, Death, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Grief, and Incest

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Body horror

Minor: Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, and Abortion

nataliebeech's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

2.75

I feel so conflicted by this book because the writing is brilliant, and yet I can’t say I enjoyed it and honestly I’m pretty relieved it’s over. I’m interested in reading books with unusual styles and I think this definitely has that, and Rijneveld writes from a child’s perspective so well, but oh my god is this book bleak. It’s a book that disturbs and challenges and I admire not shying away from how dark childhood and children can actually be, but it does feel like an onslaught of abuse, shit, neglect, body horrors and I’m not sure exactly what to take from it. I also didn’t feel that connected to any of the characters, so the awful things that happened weren’t really emotional for me, just unsettling. It seems maybe like an examination of child neglect and trauma, and it is a tragedy in many ways. If you’re ready for all that then buckle up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Death, Pedophilia, Body horror, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Child death, and Self harm

Moderate: Blood

mokuren's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Grief, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit