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Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Apsēstie by Chuck Palahniuk

45 reviews

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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dark emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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challenging dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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wrenjuniper's profile picture

wrenjuniper's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 42%

I think that Chuck Palahniuk reels you in with the first story and then it goes downhill from there. At first I thought it was really boring, didn't really understand where it was going, and then I got to Coras story. 
Personally, I don't think you can write about something like that for a grossed out reaction. It comes off as insensitive and slightly concerning. Gore has a limit and I think that limit is kids. Don't write about kids dude, that's super weird.


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dark funny informative fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Chuck Palahniuk makes a strong case for why some writers are the worst people in the world — not in the short (back)stories, which are so horrific they frequently slip into the comedic, but in the way they approach their environment and the people in it, assimilating all they can to sell the perfect story, ultimately to their detriment — and weaves it all together to makes a point about the human addiction to (their own) pain and suffering. With which I don't necessarily agree, but that's irrelevant to the book itself right now. 

I usually don't get much out of short story collections, but this one also functions as a complete novel, so if you feel similarly, this collection might still do it for you. 

Not for the faint of heart, as you may already know if you've heard anything about this book at all. I don't blame anyone who can't finish the book, especially as there is nary a sympathetic character to be found, and this can make the whole thing feel pointless. I still got enough out of it to keep going though, Mrs. Clark's stories about her daughter give the book sort of a lifeline, and one story in particular struck me as ending on kind of a positive note ("Exodus"), the only one of its kind. 

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challenging dark tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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medium-paced

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challenging 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

I’ve never really been a fan of Palahniuk’s books or his writing. I read Fight Club and thought it was ok but overall it was just too long and too pretentious. Haunted has been suggested to me so many times and was on so many horror lists I finally said ok why not? I should not have done that. 

I absolutely hate this book. It is not anything that I enjoy, there is no horror here. Unless you’re brand of horror is gross out horror than I guess this could work for you, but to me it was just a pointless excuse to be over the top disgusting for no reason. 

The story is set up with 3 confusing layers, the actual narrative of these “writers” being locked in a theater and self sabotaging everything every chance they get, a shitty poem about each unlikeable character, and some inane short story that really has no point other than to be shocking. This style, while creative, was a slog to get through and just so disjointed and confusing. Also, all the characters are the worst human beings you’ll ever read about which is probably the point, but as a character driven reader this was pure hell for me. 

I wish I could go back in time and stop myself from reading this book. If you love pretentious gross out horror with no point then this could honestly interest you. But if you’re a reader who likes horror that’s atmospheric, scary, or character driven steer clear of Haunted. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark funny slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings