Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven

28 reviews

erica_reads_things's review

dark funny 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Not a bad read, but unfortunately not what I was expecting, either. I enjoyed the unreliable narrators of it all and how every interview has their own perspective. But I also do wish that there were some sort of overall narrator to tell us what did happen. Also, especially towards the beginning, some of the inaccuracies of how Hurricanes happen took me out of it for a sec, but it was easy to be pulled back in once the first hand account interviews started happening. Overall it was fine but it left me wanting more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Sexism, Excrement, and Medical content

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury

hoagie's review

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Drug use, Cannibalism, and Alcohol

charadelle's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

My rating of this book is a little more harsh compared to some others as I was working on avoiding a reading slump due to 2 DNFs prior to this one. I was really hoping this book was going to have a lot more spooky aspects to it.

We had the warthogs, but we never got to find out why/who/what/how they came to be. They were really only mentioned in 2-3 interviews and only one interview really detailed anything they were doing. THAT was the interview that I liked the most.

The lack of continuous spooky vibes took away a half star.

I was nervous that this was written in an interview format. My favorite book is written this way, but I also DNFd one that was that style as well. I felt the interview format was a good call for this story. It gave a realistic feel to the story that had me wondering "Did this really happen?" occasioanlly throughout.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Medical content

Minor: Gun violence and Excrement

forevercamp's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Rape, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Cannibalism

courtneys_shelves's review

adventurous dark sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

k8scoll's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I thought this book was such an interesting take on a very common theme: what happens to humanity when the worst happens. The backdrop of an amusement park, and the interview style made me want to keep reading. I finished the book wanting more perspectives, but that wouldn’t have added to the story itself. Loved it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

tsannes's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

poirot's review

dark tense medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

effaly's review against another edition

dark sad 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? Yes

2.5

Overall it's a good story, but unfortunately, the style in which it was written makes it a pain to read sometimes.

The story is revealed through interviews with several people who were there after Sadie hit Fantasticland. At first, I really liked the idea. It made it all feel so much more personal to hear from the characters directly what it was like and what each and everyone saw, thought and felt. However, it became very quickly very repetitive. There are events and people that were described over and over again, to the point where they lost their "punch". When you read some stuff the first time, it's shocking. But after the fifth time, you just want to hear about something else. 

And then there's the misogynistic tone in almost every chapter. 😒 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Grief, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Body shaming, Cursing, Drug abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Excrement, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

whatzoreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail