Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Wyborny trup

an experience that changes a person, but I feel like you can get the same message out of other sources and not get traumatized in the process. do not touch if you have a sensitive stomach.

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abos's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

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thebookworm777's review against another edition

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dark

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

1.75

Given this book is a translation I will not spend much time on the writing quality itself. I do wish to note though that Bazterrica's style did not appeal to me as I found the language simplistic to the point it was at times distracting. I do not know if this is because of the translation or because this is what was intended. I appreciate simple language and can recognize when its use enhances a story. In this case, I felt that as a literary device it added nothing to the book and indeed detracted at times as I was distracted in some parts by the how repetitious things were becoming.

As for the plot of this book...what plot? To me this book felt like it was cataloguing daily life in a dystopian hellscape which itself lacked verisimilitude. The premise of the book is that humans can no longer consume animal meat due a virus that has apparently been around for several decades but to which there is no cure or any mutations of the virus. This alone seemed unrealistic to me. Then comes the rest of this highly unplausible off which the book is based: that in the absence of animal flesh, people just turn willingly to cannibalizing each other.

Never once did I feel there was an adequate explanation for why cannibalism was normalized other than that people enjoy eating meat. I have a difficult time believing that people as a whole enjoy meat so much that they'd be willing to socially sanction cannibalism in the absence of animal products. I also have a difficult time believing these actions would take place in a age where we have an increasing number of meat substitutes and lab grown meat is a concept that has been teased for years. The lack of compelling reason for cannibalistic activities to take place truly made this book difficult to engage with a serious work rather than as a poorly created piece of satire.

A lot of the writing is explicit and horrific, and for what? Because we *must* eat each other? Again, why? In the absence of a true answer to this question I feel like the graphic, gory scenes in this book exist not to make a comment on society but rather as a form of horror porn. Other elements of this book which gave me this impression included the way sexuality, rape, death, torture, and cannibalism are all mixed up with each other.

Other elements I did not enjoy included overtones of racism, misogyny, and classism. These elements I feel all had the potential to be used in a critical manner but instead just existed for no apparent purpose other than shock.

In addition to all of the above, the book to me ends with a number of loose ends. The author will introduce what seems to be a plot point only to never fulfill its arc. The last chapter of the book was honestly its strongest but even then I found the writing to be lacking.

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akalavander's review against another edition

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challenging dark fast-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

4.0

An absolutely horrifying book that I read in one sitting. It felt impossible to put down. I agree with another review I saw saying that you had to suspend some disbelief about the world building. Some of the plot elements like the Scavengers and the widespread conformity felt unrealistic, but other parts, like how different generations would react to this new world, felt very real. Many parts of this book, including the ending, absolutely broke my heart. You kind of feel for Marcos but also know he's 100% a villain in this world too.

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swamppig's review against another edition

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dark sad tense fast-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

3.0

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samhart8's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

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rkorevenge's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This made me queasy and the ending is horrific. Not for the faint of heart. Seriously, check trigger warnings. This was the most vicious storytelling I’ve ever encountered and it just doesn’t stop. It’s just absolutely brutal from the first page to the last. The ending literally made me throw the book across the room in anger. I’ve never had such a visceral reaction to a book. It’s a good book but I will never read it again. I don’t have to read it again honestly because the last line will haunt me for the rest of my life. This is a truly horrific imaging of atrocities that our infrastructures, languages, cultures, and governments are capable of implementing and justifying- and how quickly we would allow it to happen.

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