Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Sexual harassment
Minor: Abortion, Pregnancy
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Excrement, Vomit, Abortion
The novel is structured like an online forum, filled with anonymous posts and user comments, which means that every piece of information presented could be entirely false.
As the story progresses, Brad and Brian become more than just people, but they turn into mythic figures, onto whom users project their darkest, most disturbing fantasies.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Sexual content, Sexual violence
Moderate: Body horror, Gore
I love how it feels like something in between an old epistolary horror novel like Dracula, an ARG, and a found footage movie — The blank space in a lot of the pages kind of echoes the all the information that isn’t given, feels like it might be written there in invisible ink
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Medical content, Trafficking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Alcohol
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail
The way this story is told makes the reading experience feel very fresh - through a series of message board posts, reviews, emails, and faxes (this is the early 2000’s after all), you’re given what you think will be a straight forward second-hand account of many people’s experiences with a particular escort named Brad. About 1/4 of the way through however, it goes from being just gloating about sex to a full-blown mystery thriller (oh, but don’t worry, the gratuitous scenes stay the entire way through). I found myself recalling details to confirm facts and having fun (is fun the right word here? It doesn’t feel like it should fit) trying to figure out who was who, what was truth, and who was all really involved in whatever the hell was happening here. I found myself slipping - almost too quickly - from the viewpoint of “these guys are absolute freaks” to becoming one of the freaks, piecing the story along with them in real time.
And I think that’s the point. Misinformation can easily spread, especially online, and, no matter how high and mighty you think your morality might be, you can find yourself in the trenches without even realizing. The fact that Dennis Cooper basically predicated the current landscape of Twitter (or…X) 20 years before it is an incredible feat.
[POSSIBLE SPOILER]
My only complaint - and what makes it a 4 vs a 5 for me - is that there is absolutely zero payoff. Again, probably the point and part of the commentary, but having Zack’s email be the closer didn’t satisfy me enough.
[END POSSIBLE SPOILER]
If you have a strong stomach and you like literary fiction, I highly recommend this.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Murder