Reviews tagging 'Incest'

Geek Love by Katherine Dunn

49 reviews

moberry_123's review

dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma and Incest

Moderate: Drug abuse

michaelion's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Meg, you owe me for emotional damages! You owe me for something! My time back! I am owed!!!

Sick and twisted! But the book isn't bad. The best part is the creative writing. Extremely, vividly, wildly creative. 

This should be a lesson to all parents: if you're a bad enough parent your family tree might end up looking like a diamond!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Incest, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Blood, Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, and Rape

Moderate: Police brutality, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Kidnapping, Child death, Confinement, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Dementia, and Drug use

Minor: Abandonment, Transphobia, Abortion, and Racism

octobah's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Incest, and Sexual violence

_j3ss1ca's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Incest, and Body shaming

zerinasahar's review

challenging dark funny tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Body horror, Abortion, Confinement, Death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Murder, Rape, Chronic illness, Dementia, Gore, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

kaznar342's review

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Ableism, Body horror, Abandonment, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Stalking, Child death, Incest, and Medical trauma

aoi_'s review

dark tense fast-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Medical content, Gun violence, Murder, Death of parent, Cursing, Suicide, and Abandonment

Minor: Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Sexism, Rape, Pregnancy, Incest, Medical content, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Murder

the_other_yvonne's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Sexual violence, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Abortion, Incest, Medical trauma, Rape, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Toxic relationship

zhort's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

 I entered this book blind and judged it purely by its cover/title. I would not recommend people do the same.

After finishing Crime & Punishment, I was looking to relax and read something easy and fun so I picked up Geek Love thinking it would be some dumb romcom between geeks. Well it turns out geeks in this book has a very different definition:
Geek [noun, slang]. A carnival performer whose act usually consists of biting the head off a live chicken or snake.

Geek Love is about the Binewskis, a family of circus performers, where the children are all freaks of some kind; born with flippers instead of limbs (Arty), an albino dwarf with a hunchback (Olympia), conjoined twins (Elly and Iphy), and a telekinetic baby (Chick). The caveat here being they were all deliberately "made" by the parents, Al and Lily, by having Lily consume various alchemical concoctions while she was pregnant. This is all for the sole purpose of having the freakiest children possible to make their traveling circus a success. If this grosses you out, please cross out this book forever from your reading list because it gets much, much worse.

What follows is a tale of jealousy, unhinged egos, and unquestioning devotion that made me hate every single character in the book. Arty is the oldest and most charismatic, and believes that being freaks are what makes life special, so he does the most sensible thing and starts a cult that demands their followers cut their limbs off. The twins have wildly different personalities but their main problems begin, as with most girls, when they hit puberty. Chick is the youngest and most powerful, but is also the most empathetic and naive. We follow this story through the eyes of Olympia, and for someone with a hunchback she somehow manages to be the most spineless creature in the family. She loves Arty and stands beside him while he commits mass mutilation, familial abuse, murder, all for the minuscule hope that Arty will love her back.

Overall this has been the most grotesque, tragic, and twisted stories I have read, and I hated everyone and everything that was happening in the book. There are themes of betrayal, manipulation, murder, abuse, mutilation, grooming, incest, and basically anytime you think the story has reached a new low Dunn surprises you with her limbo skills. Throughout the entire process of reading it my soul has felt unclean but I couldn't tear myself away.

8/10, would not recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Abandonment, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Incest, and Rape

ann17young's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

It’s weird, wonderful, and gruesome. The bonds of family and blood are blur under the light of a freak show where normal and weird are just words used by those who fear what is different. I have not been so captivated by a book in a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Incest, Rape, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Gore, Medical trauma, Blood, Bullying, Chronic illness, Sexual violence, Torture, Drug use, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Police brutality, and Alcohol