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possumpages's review against another edition
dark
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
This book is heralded as an extreme horror classic, with lots of praise piled onto it for its writing and themes. However, I felt that the twist at the very end of the book spoiled any minor enjoyment I had had up until that point. I recognize as a book written in the 80's by a scottish man you cannot expect transgender issues to be handled well; however, how hamfistedly it was handled when, in fact, the twist could have been done SO WELL wrecked it for me, personally.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Violence, Mental illness, and Fire/Fire injury
britttobegorey94's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, and Child death
Moderate: Sexism
kawooreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Its been awhile since I rated something 2 stars...this book...it is insanely graphic and obscene one minute and borderline boring the next. Essentially Frank, the protagonist lives a hermetic lifestyle on his family's small island in Scotland with his father. At the beginning they learn that Frank's older brother Eric has escaped an institution and is making his way back to the island. As Frank awaits his inevitable arrival, he divulges the frightening reasons as to his brother's incarceration. Frank admits that he himself has a dark secret, that he killed three of his child relatives in his youth, including his little brother. The rest of the book is Frank nonchalantly describing the grisly ways in which they died while roaming around the island, engaging in intense animal cruelty and performing psychotic rituals with his "Wasp Factory". I held out to the end for 2 reasons, 1) its relatively short, just under 200 pages and 2) every dang person on tiktok said this is one of their favorite disturbing horror books and I'm trying to read Spooky for October...I do not recommend this book to anyone unless someone just wants to indulge in torture stories and relishes a read that will make them regret the time they wasted. Its an extremely disturbing story that had no redeeming qualities and quite a bizarre and lackluster ending. But maybe these kinds of stories just aren't for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, and Violence
bunnyprincess's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Violence, Torture, Sexism, Murder, Misogyny, and Mental illness
Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Drug use
grimfrown's review against another edition
dark
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Medical trauma, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
my_expanding_bookshelf's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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
3.5
The Wasp Factory is probably one of the most disturbing books I have ever read and I couldn't stop reading it. It is about 16-year-old Frank, his creepy ways that he passes the time, and how he deals with the news that his brother has escaped from hospital.
This book is very much a horror book, with graphic depictions of animal killing and murder. It is both complex and simple. I felt I had to concentrate to understand what was going on half the time, but the actual writing is easy to read.
The story is told from the POV of Frank, who is quite frankly a psychopath and absolutely terrifying. A very unlikeable person. Actually, there wasn't one likable character in the whole book! Frank's brother, Eric, is also a psychopath (I have slightly more sympathy given his story though). And his father is physically there, but he doesn't really pay much attention to Frank or what he's getting up to. He should have sought out help from Frank and Eric a long time ago.
The Wasp Factory is set in a fictional town on the east coast of Scotland. But to be honest, apart from the odd Scottish dialogue, it didn't feel like it was set in Scotland at all. And I'm Scottish and from the east coast!
The plot did keep he hooked as I wanted to know what horrific thing Frank would do next and he was so unpredictable. Although he did drop hints. And there were plenty of twists to the story too. But I also felt the ending could have been tied up a bit more and felt it was very loose.
Iain Banks was a brilliant write though, so I think I'll definitely seek out more by him. I didn't necessarily enjoy The Wasp Factory, but I can appreciate it as being very well written. I'd recommend it to anyone with a strong stomach who doesn't mind being utterly horrified by what they are reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Moderate: Child death and Sexual content
serenspace's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Violence, and Child death
Moderate: Outing
humanpuke's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book is like rubbernecking a gruesome car accident. It’s disturbing, but you can’t pull your eyes away. Banks’ themes of fate and free will play out in the coming-of-age story of the socially isolated, sociopathic teenage protagonist. It is very well done, but is also extremely difficult to get through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, and Medical trauma
sarah984's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
1.0
I know that a lot of people found the deaths in this book disturbing, but everything in the book was so whimsical and divorced from reality that it really had no effect on me at all. Extreme misogyny and weird transphobia but that's not surprising in a serial killer story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Torture, Transphobia, and Mental illness
Moderate: Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Rape and Suicide
mettenikkessen's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
4.0
This book left me feeling really confused and puzzled. The plot was very unexpected and quite random, and I felt as though I missed a deeper meaning or layer to the end. It did not feel like an end to this story really.
But having said that I did enjoy reading this book - even though it has plenty of horrific scenes. I just really love Iain Banks writing style. His magical atmospheric writing and storytelling which makes the landscape and characters come to life, but also his almost humerous dry sentences about quite gory events. Even though the main characters are very unlikable people, it is still interesting (and not as frustrating) to read the story from their point of view. Overall, I liked this book but I cannot really explain why and I would understand other people dislike to it as well.
But having said that I did enjoy reading this book - even though it has plenty of horrific scenes. I just really love Iain Banks writing style. His magical atmospheric writing and storytelling which makes the landscape and characters come to life, but also his almost humerous dry sentences about quite gory events. Even though the main characters are very unlikable people, it is still interesting (and not as frustrating) to read the story from their point of view. Overall, I liked this book but I cannot really explain why and I would understand other people dislike to it as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Violence, Torture, and Murder