Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Troop by Nick Cutter

280 reviews

kj_bewick's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? No

5.0

Trigger warnings: Body horror, self-harm and mutation, depiction of disease, violence against animals and children. 

Light spoilers, nothing deep. 

The first review I ever saw of The Troop was: 

"Fuck this book" 

That is accurate. 

I uncomfortably squirmed 75% of the time, I even wretched at one point. The language Cutter uses to describe these awful things is horrifically perfect. 

The animal abuse in this book is what nearly made me put it down. I had to close the book for a while after reading the turtle scene due to me uncontrollably sobbing. It was rough, as were the chimp and kitten scenes. You have been warned! 

If you can get past that, this book is fantastic. Horror fiction at it's absolute finest. I will be visited more of Cutter's work in the future, after I read something about fluffy unicorns and cupcakes to recover...

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Eating disorder, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Fatphobia

amelia_horseman's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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? No

4.25

Phew.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

joriereads's review against another edition

3.0

the only thing i can think to say is wtf.

would i read this again? no absolutely not. did i enjoy reading this? no. but i didnt enjoy it because it freaked me out so much. at times it felt like it was overly detailed and tended to drag the story, but the details really put me in the situation.

the ending was interesting and watching the children devolve into madness and terror and survival was frightening and heartbreaking all at once.

i tend to lean towards liking horror stories about ghosts/demons/the occult and this was something very different for me. it was enjoyable but not something i think i would ever pick up and read again.

the rating is this high because i had such a visceral reaction towards it the entire way.

the ending was interesting. critique of characters "doing the wrong thing" is boring and tired. 1- its how stories progress and 2- it felt realistic for the circumstances. i think its loser behavior when people who never will and never have experienced anything like this sit on their high horse of morality and say what they would and wouldnt do.

i think this story was extra freaky for me cause i read the majority of it while camping, at night, by a campfire.

pros:

• it was really scary 
• felt like it could be real 
• the book started off fast and jumped into the story, the build-up didnt feel like a waste of time 

cons:

• it was a gross horror and i do not enjoy gross horror 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Vomit

foxglove_alchemist's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Violence

beanformation's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Lots of similies.
I thought it was reasonably well written and it's meant to make you super uncomfortable. The boy other people are writing reviews about is a sadomasochist so his bits are especially messed up but that's what the author intended.
I was told it was like Lord of The Flies but I honestly don't think it's like that at all.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

gperez8's review against another edition

Too unsettling, maybe because all the bad stuff was all happening to children. The science part was intriguing, however I couldn't stomach the boys portions, especially when they started turning on each other. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

withsquared's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Self harm, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Cannibalism, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Homophobia and Misogyny

rebekahmccubbins's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

3.75

A truly disgusting read. I would have finished this sooner, but I kept getting itchy reading it. Fantastically written, but a tough read if

you're bothered by parasites/bugs.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

t_bun's review against another edition

dark emotional sad

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Torture, and Violence

chicaso's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail