Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

Where I End by Sophie White

6 reviews

woodsybookworm's review

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

🪢Where I End🪢

"After the freedom of sleep, I am once more confined to my life"

I was warned this would be unsettling, nonetheless I read on.

Where I End follows Aoileann, a young woman who assists her paternal grandmother in caring for Aoileann's invalid mother - whom she has nicknamed the 'bed-thing'. Aoileann has completely disassociated herself from her mother's condition and turned her into an object or as she says, 'a relic of a human', 'a nuisance', 'a chore'. 

When a young artist in residence named Rachel arrives with her newborn child, Aoileann finds herself infatuated. Aoileann begins stalking Rachel, sneaking into her house at night, dreaming of a life with her - without the bed-thing and the baby to hold them back. Her desire for human connection, lacking in her own family, has created a monster within herself that even the townspeople fear. 

Sophie White made the mundane aspects of everyday life, of caring for a family member who cannot care for themselves, into an absolutely unnerving nightmare.

Even considering all this, the book was a slow read for me and there were a few points I almost DNFed due to boredom and frustration. While I will not be getting the imagery of this book out of my head, I still didn't find it an enjoyable enough read to come back to or possibly even recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Self harm, Chronic illness, Excrement, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Stalking

alexorr's review

challenging dark tense 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

4.75

mmm very weird, scary, and gross!! was genuinely creeped out for a while. i’ll always love the personification of land, sea, and houses

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical trauma, Grief, Excrement, Gore, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Sexual assault

rosebache's review

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gore, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Violence, Vomit, and Stalking

Moderate: Rape

flowingleaves's review

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

5.0

Jesus fucking christ. Mind the warnings. This book is cruel and it goes places I didn't want it to go. I'm not quite sure if Aoileann is just that much of an unreliable narrator or if every single person in this story apart from Rachel are all just that horrible.

Fantastic story, I loved it, it made me want to throw up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Stalking, Body horror, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Child death, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Excrement, Pregnancy, Rape, and Sexual assault

whirl's review

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.0

Dark, gruesome and extremely sad 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child death, Death, Confinement, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Vomit

nplunkie's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Body horror, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Blood, Excrement, and Mental illness

Moderate: Pregnancy and Child abuse