Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry

10 reviews

astralfeline's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Really enjoyed this book. It was disturbing in a way that I haven't seen in other books (though I haven't read a ton of thriller so idk if thats just my experience). Also listened to the audiobook as I read and the narrators did a great job. It definitely kept me engaged and I didn't want to put it down. I was a bit disappointed with the ending because it felt a little anti-climactic though, it felt like it didn't really have closure in the story it just sort of ended so Idk how to feel about it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Medical content, Excrement, Pregnancy, and Animal death

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Animal death, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Death, and Abandonment

Minor: Miscarriage, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Physical abuse, and Body horror

amaranth_wytch's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pregnancy, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, and Grief

Moderate: Self harm, Torture, Violence, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, and Medical content

Minor: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Ableism

toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

fast-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

3.5

I liked a lot about this one and hybrid reading it (audio and on kindle) really added to the experience and made me feel more immersed in the story. I don't think the writing was the best ever but the story in general kept me wanting to know what happened. The very end did me very dirty though. if you know you know. Now I'm gonna start the companion novella to this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Miscarriage, Self harm, Confinement, Physical abuse, Ableism, Body horror, Abandonment, Infertility, Mental illness, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Excrement, Medical content, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Sexual content, Addiction, and Alcohol

leer_amor's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Child abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Death of parent, Excrement, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Physical abuse

smixter88's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Let me start by saying HOLY SH*T, what a wild ride. It's a very disturbing read, but man does Lucinda Berry nail it. Go in blind if you don't have triggers. If you do, you must look them up, because this book may not be for you. She kept me hooked from the very first page. I can't wait to read the second novella for this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Abandonment, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Medical content, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Torture

minimicropup's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Atmosphere 😕: Claustrophobic and uneasy. Some imagination crashing happens because minor details like appearance or locations are unnecessarily delayed in the story after readers may have already formed their own imaginings. Has a touch of "the" syndrome ("the bedroom by the family room", "the living room") where the layout of the house was confusing at times. 

Main POVs:

• A police interview with an overwhelmed social worker trying their best in a job where they are often forced to cut corners and make snap decisions on which families need their attention most
• An orthopedic surgeon eager to become a parent. Has a bit of Saviour complex particularly for children...can their unconditional love and lack of discipline heal a damaged child or are they making it worse by ignoring the reality of the situation?
• A nurse married to the surgeon, also eager to become a parent. Wants to adopt a baby they can raise together and isn't interested in raising an older child that would be dealing with trauma/abandonment issues. Do they have unrealistic, resentment filled expectations of parenthood or are they trying to set realistic boundaries and recognizing their limitations?

Cred Rating 👍👨‍👩‍👧: Plausible to realistic. Social workers are overwhelmed, the foster system is broken. Whether innate or caused, little brains aren't always wired right and some kids seem doomed to grow up into inherently dangerous people. But some of those same behaviours can also be little brains just trying to process massive traumas. Reminiscent of the Sabrina Caldwell case https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sabrina-caldwell-adoped-russia-brother-48-hours/

Reading Journey 🫥: Visiting someone's house for the first time and it's unexpected chaos - messy, smelly, kids running wild, no one seems to be doing anything about it...eyeing the door the whole time, can't wait to leave.

Good match if you like:

• Dark adoption and parenting dysfunction
• Creepy kid trope that isn't OTT (IRL horror energy with touch of supernatural possession vibes)
• Potentially unreliable narrator (paranoia/psychosis) treated with "pat pat, you're just hysterical honey" spousal support
• Kids behaving badly
• Flexible plot open to reader interpretation

Vibes: 🤢😡🤪

Content Heads-Up: infertility, adoption gone wrong, attachment and personality disorders in children, and death of a pet

cat, due to torture

Format: Kindle Unlimited

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Moderate: Murder, Infertility, Death, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

Minor: Confinement, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, and Excrement

Animal related content involves

death of a cat at the hands of a child

. Medical content comes from the MCs being a surgeon and nurse, and the child being hospitalized for injuries. Medical trauma involves

biting, breast injury and infection, broken bones, birth, and mental illness in a hospital setting

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I have no words. This is honestly what I expected The Push to be! I wasn't feeling that book, but THIS! THIS IS THE ONE!

I was hooked from the first chapter and all through out the book. I like how the book was told through perspective: Christopher Bauer, Hannah Bauer, and Piper. Each chapter leaves you shook.

Everything that happened seemed to coincide with each character. Hannah growing manic. Christopher's unconditional (and annoying) devotion to Janie. Piper's loyalty to the Bauers. Lucinda really depicted how Janie broke up this family and just the aftermath of her efforts to drive a wedge between Christopher and Hannah. 

If the ending of the actual books bothered you I suggested going to the author's Instagram page to find the orginal epilogue. It wraps the story up pretty nicely.

This book can be pretty gruesome and disturbing so be warned when reading it. I suggest if you're a fan of The Push by Ashley Audrain I think you'd really like this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Body horror

Moderate: Child abuse, Animal death, and Blood

Minor: Vomit, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

sarah2438's review

4.0

This was disturbing and twisted but fun. I was a bit disappointed about how Hannah's storyline turned out, and I thought the two investigators were very generic and only existed to provide the framing device, but Janie and Christopher are written very well. It was very unsettling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy

Moderate: Animal death and Body horror

caru_antivist's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Wow! This book was amazing. Invoking so much dread and it made me scream at the characters a few times. Once I picked it up I could not put it down. So well written. It should already be a movie tbh!

I love that the evil child trope wasn’t like others! Where it was demonic possession or supernatural. No this kid was mostly just suffering with mental issues and The author was still able to humanize her and make you not completely despise the child.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Miscarriage

Moderate: Body horror, Blood, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Minor: Infertility, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Death, and Confinement

amina2002's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

I knew that the child within this book was going to be something else but Janie was way worse than I expected her to be. She disrespected Hannah on a daily basis and drove her to a psychotic break.

She tried to kill Janie for all of the crazy things that she has been doing such as urinating everywhere, throwing feces on the walls, killing animals and bullying other children.

I honestly did not understand why Christopher always took the side of Janie even after it has been proved how manipulative she is. This book just threw me into a world wind and I can’t wait until the next book comes out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Infertility, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Violence, and Vomit