Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Night Film by Marisha Pessl

23 reviews

solouncapitulomas's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.0

first of all I have to say it, I fucking love long book but this book DID NOT need to be that long, a solution? removing most of the main and secondary characters, let's be honest ashley and cordova where the best characters and all the additional ones we never saw again.

I was so bored with McGrath's story but I did appreciate the parallels between him and cordova and their daughters, but the other to characters? unbearable, the author could've focused on the lore of cordova and on Ashley (a character like rebecca from daphne du maurier more interesting in death and with the power to eclipse every other character without even trying) instead of fucking introducing two boring people (nora and hopper) with no business being there and maybe if those two stayed like another one of the additional people we met along the way they would've been bearable but no, they had to join the hunt and be useless 

wtv, I finished this book before the end of October and that was that

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, and Transphobia

Moderate: Racism, Forced institutionalization, and Cancer

Minor: Car accident

ashtheaudiomancer's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

This has been on my TBR shelf for awhile, but I moved it to the top of the list on a recommendation. It's fascinating! I like the unusual formatting and inclusion of blog posts, photos, police reports, and other tidbits that make the world feel really fleshed out and real.

I'm not sure what else to say about it because almost everything is a spoiler. It's a murder mystery . . . kind of. It's an exploration of the depths of conspiracy theories and cult-like followings that get attached to certain celebrities . . . kind of. It's a deconstruction of the typical private investigator character type . . . kind of.

It's a thick and challenging read, and leaves things a little ambiguous, and a little meta, at the end, but the time commitment is worth it. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, and Cancer

Minor: Child death

A central theme in this story follows plot beats and details from a fictional filmmaker whose work (to me) sounds similar to the Gialli. So there's a lot of descriptions of (again fictional) films with similar levels of gore and violence.

kristareads's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Transphobia, Misogyny, and Racism

Moderate: Child death and Sexual assault

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Cancer, Chronic illness, and Fire/Fire injury

judassilver's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Transphobia, Misogyny, Death, Alcohol, and Sexism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, Ableism, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Racism, Addiction, and Stalking

Minor: Car accident, Forced institutionalization, Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, and Trafficking

kylieqrada's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This book was creepy AF and I liked the themes and the ambiguous ending. I just couldn't get behind some of the language.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Transphobia, and Suicide

Moderate: Racism, Forced institutionalization, and Cancer

Minor: Car accident

dielesemotte's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, and Cancer

wrestleacademic's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Addiction, Abandonment, Body horror, Chronic illness, Transphobia, Alcohol, Blood, and Car accident

Moderate: Child death, Cancer, and Child abuse

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Trafficking

philomathean's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Terminal illness, Transphobia, and Cancer

dbuchheister's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

2.0

Did I like this book? Not by the end.
Was it racist and transphobic? Yes.
Was it actually creepy or horrifying? Not particularly.
Did I finish it hoping that the end would be good? Yes.
Was it? No. It was a disappointment.
Was there a scene where

a teenager throws herself at a 40-something, mediocre man for no reason

? Yes.
Was it actually a compelling and well put together mystery? I really don't feel that way.
Was it too long? Yes.
Would I recommend this to anyone? Absolutely not.
Do I regret reading this? Kind of. I spent way too much time on something so disappointing.
Were there things that were mildly interesting? Sure.
Did that make up for the rest? Nope.

Do with this information what you will.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Child death, Racism, Cancer, and Transphobia

mxpringle's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

My opinions on this book are very complicated. At the beginning, I loved the format of the story and the plot had me on the edge of my seat. I think the way that Pessl crafted this story was truly masterful in that the reader is never quite sure what the reality is. However, as the book went on, I began to become frustrated with how it felt like nothing had really been uncovered in the investigation that was occurring in the book. I felt like I was being led on. In addition, so much of the book was filled with racism, sexism, and transphobia all perpetrated by the protagonist, whose authority on these matters was never questioned. As a trans person, the demonization of trans women in horror for a simple "creep factor" is getting very archaic, and Pessl's use of that trope disgusted me. In addition, the bizarre and unnecessary romance between the middle aged protagonist and his teenage assistant left me feeling slimy and uncomfortable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Transphobia, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Torture, Sexism, and Racism

Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Cancer, Trafficking, Violence, Terminal illness, and Stalking

Minor: Mental illness and Medical content