Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty

28 reviews

mamalanna_'s review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

2.0

Was boring, not as scary of a book as everyone makes it out to be. The graphic descriptions of what the book calls “Black Mass” are mostly irrelevant to the plot and feel like a gore-porn bit for the reader.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Excrement

Moderate: Murder, Medical content, and Death

bearystarry's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.0

Very similar to the movie, which isn't a bad thing. The antisemitism was ... gratuitous and unneeded. Other than that and a few other brief things I enjoyed this a lot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Sexism, Incest, Medical content, Sexual violence, Addiction, Antisemitism, Excrement, Religious bigotry, Gore, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Sexual content, Vomit, Misogyny, Medical trauma, and Rape

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Racism

laird_br0wn3's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Cursing, Medical content, Body horror, Vomit, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Excrement, Drug use, Grief, and Racial slurs

andrea_95's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Extremely gripping read. The story catches you and doesn’t let you go again. The author's style, however, especially the way he writes conversations, took some time getting used to, thus I won’t give a full five stars. Nevertheless, the author did lots of research for this, medical and religious alike, which is impressive.

Father Karras, or Damien, as he is lovingly called by Merrin, is my personal favorite character.

The struggle with his faith against his medical and scientific knowledge is compelling and well-written, his triumph over the demon as he becomes the titular Exorcist, even in his own death, feels satisfying and appropriate. Even though there are only a few references to it in texts, like when the demon taunts Karras as homosexual, I personally read him as homosexual from the beginning, which may have been another reason for him to struggle with his faith. His close relationship with Father Dyer as well as Kinderman repeatedly inviting him to the movies seemed to be indicators of Karras' homosexuality. A very nice touch was the story ending with Kinderman and Dyer, walking off arm in arm, after Kinderman invites Dyer to the movies, both reminiscing about Karras, but also healing from the horrors that happened.

The possession of Regan as well as Chris' struggle to help her daughter were hard to read, especially Chris' helplessness as she employed doctor after doctor, all of who seemed unable to help Regan, let alone figure out what exactly was wrong in the first place. Chris' extremely close relationship to her secretary Sharon Spencer, who simultaneously acts as a tutor/nanny for Regan and thus even as a kind of mother figure to the girl, reads again like homosexual relationship between the two women, who, throughout all of the horrors, support each other emotionally and provide a shoulder to lean on.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Vomit, Medical content, Body horror, and Excrement

looneysoysauce's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, and Medical content

Moderate: Addiction, Chronic illness, Confinement, Drug use, Death of parent, Excrement, Grief, Alcohol, and Drug abuse

Minor: Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, and Antisemitism

nieva098's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

I really liked it. Almost couldn’t put it down. A bit unsattisfying end but other then that i enjoyed it! Would recommend checking trigger warnings though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Excrement, Vomit, and Medical content

Moderate: Death, Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

thereadingdude's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Body horror, Cursing, Terminal illness, Blood, and Vomit

Moderate: Suicide, Sexual content, Medical content, Murder, Death, Gore, Excrement, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, and Alcohol

poirot's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Vomit, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Murder, and Excrement

Minor: Child death, Drug use, Suicide, and Addiction

cinderrunner's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Brilliant example of a horror novel. Genuinely one of the best books i have yet to read in the genre. The horror isnt extremely in your face but it is still deeply unsettling. Its a bit of a slow burn. The way its written constantly challenges the notion of if Regan is truly possessed or just mentally ill, which mirror social beliefs and functions in a brilliant way. It really haunts you. The movie is, of course, iconic. But the way the book is constructed just flows and builds so much better. A must read for horro fans. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Child death, Xenophobia, Excrement, Suicide, Violence, Drug abuse, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Addiction, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Medical content, Ableism, Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, and Mental illness

meecespieces's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Blood, Death, Body horror, Excrement, Child abuse, Medical content, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcohol and Child death

Minor: Addiction