Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers

49 reviews

cj_tatertott's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-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

3.25

This was a really interesting read, and I did really enjoy the visceral, descriptive writing style. The main character is fascinating, and is both relatable in some aspects and utterly horrifying in others. Good read, both entertaining and darkly philosophical at times. Definitely not for everyone, but I enjoyed it a lot!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Murder, Cannibalism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Gore, Violence, Mental illness, and Death

Minor: Antisemitism, Animal death, and Cancer

revolutiondeathsquad's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

2.5

it was an okay read but I feel like the majority of people will think this book is too pretentious so for that I don't really recommend it. It was a good time though

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Mental illness, Cannibalism, Sexual content, Blood, Gore, and Death

fadeddpages's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective

• 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Gore, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Murder, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Violence, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Drug use, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, and Panic attacks/disorders

saberssoccer21's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Gore, Blood, Cannibalism, and Sexual assault

neni's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Sexual content, Rape, Mental illness, Murder, Blood, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Death, and Sexual violence

yoshikagelight's review against another edition

dark funny 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Mental illness, Murder, and Sexism

icarusandthesun's review against another edition

dark funny reflective slow-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? Yes

3.75

holy shit. this book was as vile, graphic and brutal as it was brilliant - which is to say, extremely.
cynical, self-conscious, unflinching, and surprisingly profound.
 
dorothy was hilarious, and absolutely crazy. and the worst thing is, the whole book was also incredibly and excruciatingly thrilling. i was having fun watching a mad cannibalist skin her lover. i was having a jolly old time while reading about this psychopathic woman eating human meat and analyzing it as if it were just any other ordinary (and with ordinary i mean sophisticated and *italian*) meal. 
it was horrible and so entertaining.

it was a very slow book though with a lot of detailed descriptions, sautéed in a sauce of names, places and meals i've never even heard of (did i do that right?). it was a little unrelatable, or maybe i'm just uncultured. probably both since i do believe i'm not a psychopath so relating to this woman would be a little disconcerting. 

anyways, fun read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Gore, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Blood, Confinement, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death and Sexual content

Minor: Infidelity

stumacherirl's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious 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

2.5

So pretentious. Loved certain parts and wanted to see more about them but they weren't focused on. The character is SUPPOSED to be pretentious but the writing isn't. Had several moments where I rolled my eyes, not because of the character monologuing, but because of what the author was trying to say. Satire isn't satire when it starts to genuinely emulate what it is trying to laugh at. Nonetheless, she is a girlboss, so she gets an extra two stars. I would let her kill and eat me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Mental illness, Cannibalism, and Toxic relationship

tatimarie8284's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

it honestly took me a while to get into, the first day i got it i was struggling to read the first chapter because i wasn’t expecting the writing style but after i got past it it was such a page turner! couldn’t put it down! it was so uncomfortably descriptive it made it easy to put yourself in her world even though you wouldn’t want to. definitely one worth reading but not if you have a weak stomach 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Car accident, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, Blood, Violence, Animal death, Cancer, Sexual harassment, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Terminal illness, Body horror, Death of parent, Excrement, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, and Gore

killmoore_'s review against another edition

Okay. I struggled with this one. Not because it's poorly written, or that it lacks a good narrative. Not that the premise isn't absolute perfection. I wasn't turned off by the gore. I wasn't offended. If this was written in any other style, I would have devoured this book in a single sitting. I wanted so desperately to love it.

However.

This book reads like a young person trying to squeeze as many derogatory words into 200-something pages as they possibly can. It feels... greasy. It doesn't feel like feminist grit. It tries too hard to portray psychopathy. It's a mess. The gore is the best part, and it really is well written, it's just every other aspect of this book that made me shut it. 

Will I pick it back up someday? Probably. The only reason I didn't finish it was due to an inability to renew this and another novel which I'd much rather fly through before returning them. 

Would I actively recommend this? No. I understand why people love it, it's just truly not for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Gore, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Murder, Body horror, Cannibalism, Cursing, Death, Blood, Sexual content, Infidelity, and Violence