Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Cows by Matthew Stokoe

20 reviews

alex_bousquet's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

When someone says DO NOT read this, it peaks my interest I have to see what it is about. This was so horrifying in a way I could not stop reading. I said wtf more than I ever have in a book before. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Gore, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Violence, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Abortion, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, and Torture

crypticapricorn's review against another edition

challenging 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

2.75

holy shit

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Gore, Incest, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Death, Rape, Death of parent, Excrement, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Violence, and Vomit

specificwonderland's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

In a sense, I dnf this book. I put it down at 50-55% and did not continue on. In another sense, I did finish it. I reached the end point for me. I've spent years reading fucked up things, watching fucked up things, listening to fucked up things. I wanted to prove to myself I could. I wasn't soft or affected. I was hard and wizened. Fuck all that. 

I read some reviews of this book before I quit, wondering if it would turn out to be fruitful or have some kind of 'good' ending. What I read was not encouraging. To paraphrase, "this is a less good Animal Farm". Yeah, I don't need to debase myself like this. It's ok that I'm soft. It's ok that I get disgusted and traumatized reading about a guy fucking a girl while he guides a colonoscopy camera up (really really up) her anal canal far into her intestines while they both listlessly watch the camera footage. It's ok that I don't want to read about 6 guys punching holes in the same cow while it's alive, so they can fuck the cow holes and then murder the cow so it tenses around their dicks before they finally stop its suffering. It's ok I don't want to hear about a sadistic mother feeding her adult son rotten sheep intestines, then him making her eat his literal shit, on a plate, over and over again. And the poor helpless dog. 

Wherever this book is going, it's ok that I don't want to go. 

From what I did read, I felt it was one dimensional, the detached third person narration of an emotionally delayed (however rightfully so) young man. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. I paid for it , and don't even want to leave it in a FLL without a content warning on it. I feel like Tender is the Flesh tackles these ideas in less harsh ways while still being visceral. 

Some questions I have at this juncture. The biggest question I have is, was the writer in on this? Did the writer do an amazing job at a character study of a depraved man or is the only way a writer could harness this much depravity is if he himself were that depraved man, saying whatever thoughts he thinks. If it's the former, there's some value in this level of repulsion. If it's the latter, I hope to never cross his path in a dark alley.

I do think the animal cruelty question opens an ethical line of questioning. Ok we can all agree THIS is too much, this is beyond the boundaries of what a cow should have to go through. How do we feel (singularly, as a society, or from the author's Australia versus my America) about factory farms? Most of us eat meat, isn't that cruel? Most of us distance ourselves as much as we can from our living breathing food. This book makes the reader look. 

Humans are disgusting, even if we're not unfeeling toxic monsters. We do horrible things to animals. And guess what, we do them to each other. Men rape women. People bring guns to schools, malls, concerts, movies. America is a hella racist place to be for a person of color. England colonized a lot of the world. We treat each other horribly. Is this book beyond that? (Resounding yes for me.) 

And my final question is, if it's not for me, who is this book for? I think it's for someone who wants to be pushed to their limits. I love a sad book that destroys me. If there's an audience who craves that feeling of being destroyed and levelled by a disgusting work, this is the book for that audience. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Vomit, Violence, Animal cruelty, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Confinement, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Torture, Death, Medical trauma, Blood, Body horror, Medical content, Sexual assault, and Emotional abuse

pantrat's review

challenging dark tense 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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Animal death, Body shaming, Cursing, Murder, Physical abuse, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Death, Fatphobia, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexism, Vomit, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Gore, Medical content, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Racism, Racial slurs, and Rape

angreadseverything's review

dark medium-paced

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

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Animal death, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Murder, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Cursing, Vomit, Rape, Excrement, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Violence, Death of parent, Body horror, and Death

gothkicks's review against another edition

dark fast-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

3.5

Well-written but grotesque to an often gratuitous extent.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Animal death, Child abuse, Sexual content, Body horror, Sexual violence, Torture, Pedophilia, Vomit, Self harm, Mental illness, Murder, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, Rape, Death, and Physical abuse

dreamyari's review

dark 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

0.5

content warnings: animal cruelty, animal death, blood, body horror, cannibalism, child abuse, child death, death, death of parent, emotional abuse, excrement, gore, islamophobia, mental illness, misogyny, murder, physical abuse, pregnancy, racial slurs, rape, sexism, sexual assault, sexual violence, torture

i’m not even kidding, this and dead inside have the exact same problem of being so formulaic where every chapter is the repeat of the previous one with like. a sentence of a difference. extreme horror is great but only when done with an iota of something that isn’t just ~oooo disgusting description that will make the reader gag~. it sure will!! but what’s the point if that’s all there is? WHY did so many influencers recommend this lmao

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Torture, Racial slurs, Sexism, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Gore, Mental illness, Child death, Rape, Islamophobia, Death, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Animal death, and Excrement

katenorman17's review against another edition

dark fast-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Excrement, Islamophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Vomit, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Murder, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

janachigo's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Gore, Physical abuse, Vomit, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Body horror, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual violence, Excrement, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Pregnancy, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Sexual assault

voidcrawler's review

surprisingly, i found this kind of boring… i really wanted to like it though. the author’s incredibly talented and i’d read more of his work, but this fell flat for me. i gave it to roughly the halfway mark to give me something to feel, but… oh well. i’d still recommend it to anyone who wants something a little more on the disturbing side.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, Excrement, and Gore

Moderate: Gaslighting and Fatphobia