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ribbenkast's review against another edition
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
However, I do have to give this book 5 ⭐️. It just does everything right. First there is the mystery: the book mainly consists of forum posts on an gay escort rating website in the early 2000's. There is no way to verify which accounts are real and which accounts are fake (even though the poor webmaster does try). Dennis Cooper does not take the reader by the hand. You have to do some detective work and decide for yourself what is real and what is fake.
Secondly, it uses gore and violence effectively within the story. (So many times in extreme horror, gore is just simply there for the shock value. I find that rather overdone and boring). Some of the described acts are so vile, I had to put the book down for a bit. Whether these things actually happened or whether these were just the perverted ramblings of someone getting their weird rocks off remains to be debated. (Although we get some answers in the end.)
When does a fantasy cross the line? What is ethical even if someone supposedly concented? It is a cruel account of what happens when people egg each other on to live their most perverted fantasies. This book written in 2004 is an important early conversation about Internet safety and mass delerium when people can hide in anonymity.
Graphic: Chronic illness, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cancer, Alcohol, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Stalking, Excrement, Gore, Slavery, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Addiction, Death, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, Violence, Vomit, Body horror, Classism, Hate crime, Suicide attempt, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Rape, and Drug use
danimacuk's review
- 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
Graphic: Cannibalism, Confinement, Physical abuse, Torture, Gore, Rape, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Violence, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Trafficking
Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Excrement, and Drug abuse
Minor: Abortion, Homophobia, Hate crime, and Racism
j_yarbrough's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Stalking, Abortion, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Addiction, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Vomit, Blood, Death, Hate crime, Incest, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Chronic illness, Drug use, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Medical content, Cancer, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Slavery, and Violence
paulus_on_the_rocks's review
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
J'ai ouvert le bouquin en me disant joyeusement, enfin un auteur qui ne se fout pas de notre gueule quand il décide d'écrire du cul. Oh boy. Cooper ne se fout pas de notre gueule sur absolument aucun sujet.
C'est à la fois le roman le plus horrible et le plus intelligent que j'ai lu depuis très, très longtemps, si ce n'est toujours. J'ai vraiment hésité à lui mettre un full five stars car ce n'est absolument pas un livre que je conseillerais (cf le nombre ahurissant de TW) mais, en même temps, je l'ai trouvé extrêmement intéressant du point de vue narratif.
Si vous n'avez pas l'estomac fragile et que vous aimez le concept de unreliable narrator, foncez, mais j'insiste : ce n'est vraiment, vraiment pas du petit lait, le livre est extrêmement graphique.
Graphic: Drug use, Excrement, Gore, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Rape, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Violence, Vomit, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Body horror, Chronic illness, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, and Toxic relationship
paigie_pie's review
5.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, Sexual content, Drug use, Rape, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Death, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Torture, Self harm, Blood, Murder, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Adult/minor relationship, and Addiction
Moderate: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Cancer, Pregnancy, Homophobia, Cursing, Suicide, and Excrement
msdiamar's review
5.0
Graphic: Trafficking, Cancer, Pedophilia, Excrement, Gore, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Terminal illness, Addiction, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Homophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, and Vomit
lovesimon's review
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Pedophilia, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Homophobia, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Death, Rape, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Sexual violence, Excrement, Drug use, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, and Body horror
ekaramanov's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Medical content, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence
aknaag's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
4.75
The setting and the pacing of this book and overall layout is different to conventional books, it’s fun, which I enjoyed!
Idk if it’s because of the way I downloaded it but the authors name and the book title weirdly appears in the middle of almost every page that caught me off guard sm times, idk if it’s downloaded error or something but I got used it midway so that’s fine.
The plot…. Ugh the plot.. deplorable. So tragic and just makes you question and shake your head at humanity honestly.
There’s this spectrum in which sex is written and viewed in books, it’s either realistically romantic and spicy or realistically degrading and abhorrent. And it was very much the latter. At least that’s how I felt. Just needed a shower and the strong feel to be celibate.
Tragic character/(s) but such an interesting rabbit hole of a mystery. The way it kept unfolding really had me gagged. Just overall, the plot ATE.
If you’re a person with a ding dong, going to read this book? I highly suggest you mentally prepare for it because the detailed scenes of violence sometimes became too much for me and I can’t imagine how you’d feel having a wiener.
Honestly, this ATE. I finished it in a DAY.
Graphic: Pedophilia, Suicide, Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Sexual assault, Torture, Drug use, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, and Vomit
angelicardale's review
Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Self harm, Rape, Alcohol, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Domestic abuse, Death, Chronic illness, Addiction, Pedophilia, Blood, Trafficking, Violence, Terminal illness, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Medical trauma, Child death, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Body horror, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Medical content, Hate crime, Gun violence, and Drug abuse