Reviews tagging 'Violence'

a certain hunger by Chelsea G. Summers, Chelsea G. Summers

238 reviews

mcrespo's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

3.5

despite the main character being insufferably hypocritical, arrogant, smug, and a truly evil white woman down to her core, i thought that this novel so wonderfully described the complexities of feminine rage, love, and female friendships. summers' prose is rich and a sensory delight, however, i found that at times, the descriptions and literary devices summers employed detracted from the storyline. the repetition became tedious, and the descriptions dragged on for paragraphs at a time. i found myself frequently fighting the urge to skip over a large chunk of text that went into great detail on the process of preparing and consuming duck confit or baked alaska. i can appreciate the way that food tied into this novel, and i understand the importance of creating this idiosyncratic description of food to immerse the reader, but at times, it definitely detracted from the real meat of the story. overall, i was happy to have read this, and i loved the way that themes of love and female relationships were explored, even through this really unlikable character. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Cancer and Death of parent

spbaer's review against another edition

dark 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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder

_p0ssum_'s review against another edition

Cannibalism books aren't entertainin to read 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Cannibalism

Moderate: Rape and Sexual harassment

Minor: Terminal illness and Violence

culpeppper's review against another edition

dark 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

1.75

To sum it up in one word, this book was excessive. 

Loved the

cannibalism and symbolism related to partaking in the act of it

but the rest was boring or felt slightly offensive.

Wasserman, the female black cop, was treated so weirdly. The author was fixed on her Blackness, and described her hair constantly and weirdly. Also compared her to a horse multiple time so?????

Dorothy tells the narrative in a weird, jumpy way I got used to, but it took away any thrill or surprise because she would just tell you whatever she was going to do in a summary, then go onto explain it in more tedious prose. Maybe true crime readers who like a #girlboss story will like it, but the story fell flat after about 8 chapters for me, and a lot of the "profound" shit was underwhelming but so tedious to read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Blood, Cannibalism, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Violence, Excrement, and Antisemitism

Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Racism, Vomit, and Classism

alexismoodie's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-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

5.0

WOW!! i would give it 10/5 stars if i could! do read the trigger warning beforehand, but if you can handle it, it is well worth the read!!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

paulinia's review against another edition

dark funny 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Sexual assault, Violence, Cannibalism, and Murder

danpolta's review against another edition

dark funny reflective 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

4.0

Girlboss American Psycho describes our narrator, Dorothy Daniels. A professed psychopath, the character takes us through the men she murdered, what she wanted from them, and what made her do it.

I really enjoyed the parts where the author uses the character to describe depraved thoughts and feelings through an unreliable narrator who insists that we all feel the same hungers. At her best, you can feel sympathetic toward the drive to cannibalism. At her worst, it feels like gore porn for misandrists.

The build up to the narrator ending up in jail (revealed at the start of the book) feels well-earned, and there are a few Chekhov guns for the mystery-loving attentive reader.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Antisemitism

grrrcait's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder

reddeddy's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

emmas_reads_'s review against another edition

dark reflective 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

2.5

wow. this book was long. but short (thank god for that)! Summers sure knows how to write pretentious, unlikeable, unstable characters. and that is exactly what dorothy daniels is.

dorothy daniels is a sex-loving, borderline women-hating, antisemetic, racist, lesbophobic, and classist food snob. this book is supposed to be about dorothy critiquing women’s role in society. she brings up how she thinks monogamy is boring, that she won’t have kids, that she refuses to marry, that men are useful for sex, food, and manipulation and that’s about it. it honestly felt like dorothy hated women who decided to decided to do all of these things with men - the amount of times i wrote “just say you hate women and go” is astonishing for a book critiquing women’s gender roles in society.

the feminism in this book is more outright and blatant instead of the subtle critique i was hoping for. this felt just like the barbie (albeit with a cannibalistic serial murderess) - feminism 101.

the writing is…something. the author often shows what is unnecessary (food descriptions) and tells what is (emma and dorothy’s friendship developments). representations, descriptions, and comparisons are made with one of two things: food or genitalia. it’s very offputting - not necessarily uncomfortable but i did think it got excessive. i think the pretentiousness of the writing fit with dorothy’s characterization though, so even if it was a slog to get through i appreciate it.

i did enjoy the cannibalism (of which i do wish there was more of) and murder though. it’s why i bought this book in the first place. that part definitely delivered, and for that i’m thankful. delightfully sickening!!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Racism, Violence, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, and Classism