Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite

125 reviews

fuathling's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gore, Cannibalism, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Rape, Suicide, Racism, and Racial slurs

Minor: Incest and Terminal illness

clevelandbookgirl's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, Infidelity, Blood, Confinement, Murder, Mental illness, Body horror, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death, Gore, Sexual violence, Rape, Racism, Cannibalism, Excrement, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Violence, Pedophilia, Addiction, Sexual content, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Torture, Terminal illness, Racial slurs, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Incest

Minor: Animal death

erinbarton's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

2.5

this was a bit of a disappointment for me for two main reasons:

firstly, the blurb describes an interesting premise which doesn’t actually take place in the book until the last 100 pages. throughout the first 150 pages of this novel the two main characters are separate. this meant the pacing felt so inconsistent since we had basically 150 pages of slow background leading up to them meeting, deciding to team up, and executing their kill together all within the last 100 pages.

secondly, the gore and violence felt purely for shock factor with no other deeper purpose / meaning. the book talks a lot about the HIV epidemic of the 80s and 90s but this just felt like a secondary plot point with no real connection to the main murder storyline. as a reader very much desensitised to gore/violence the shock factor just didn’t land and i found myself quite bored throughout most of this. this could be influenced by my recently reading notes on an execution which also heavily features a serial killer but is a much deeper exploration of redemption and nature vs nurture, but exquisite bodies just felt so empty in comparison

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Terminal illness, Murder, Violence, and Cannibalism

smilingsammie's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Addiction, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Drug use, Physical abuse, Suicide, Blood, Cannibalism, Rape, Sexual assault, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Police brutality, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Self harm, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Cursing, and Injury/Injury detail

sammysamsam's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug use, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Blood, Classism, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Stalking, Cannibalism, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Torture, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Rape, Sexual content, Gore, Incest, Outing, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Vomit, Xenophobia, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death of parent, Excrement, Misogyny, Colonisation, and Slavery

floorsalad's review against another edition

dark 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

4.25

Got to the halfway point and couldn't put it down. Grotesquely explicit and deliciously queer. Would be a 5 star read without the racism.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Drug use, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Sexual violence, Torture, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Rape, Mental illness, and Suicide

naomymarr'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Torture, Gore, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Body horror, Cannibalism, Blood, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, and Misogyny

Minor: Incest and Pedophilia

nittiotvaan's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Drug use, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Torture, Murder, Rape, Vomit, Confinement, Death, Terminal illness, Drug abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Racism, Sexual assault, and Homophobia

Moderate: Grief, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Racial slurs, and Domestic abuse

caidyn's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-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? Yes

4.75

I can now count two books that made me want to vomit. American Psycho and this one. Absolutely bloody disgusting. Yet I couldn't put it down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Drug use, Gore, Murder, and Violence

loki's review against another edition

dark tense

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

3.5

This book is disgusting and upsetting and physically difficult to read and I LOVE that.

However, at times it felt like it was being deliberately provocative, rather than provocative in the service of the overall artistry of the book. Not that I fault the author for that - I think every queer creator should create art as disgusting as they want it to be - but it did affect my enjoyment of the book personally. There were also some elements of the discourse around race and homophobia that felt a little off colour, but in all honesty I would need to do more research to comment on that intelligently. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Classism, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Cursing, and Homophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism and Racism