Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Houseguest: And Other Stories by Amparo Dávila

7 reviews

orlagal's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Grief, Body horror, Murder, Torture, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Infertility, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Violence, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, and Miscarriage

syinhui's review

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

While I liked the ambiguity and bizarreness of these short stories - and I don’t mind them being open-ended - it’s just that overall, it’s lackluster and pretty much forgettable. 

“It’s not my imagination, it’s not a dream, it’s not my nerves as you call them, it’s a reality so terrifying that it’s driving me insane, it’s being so close to death that you start to feel its chill in your bones.” 

It’s not as chilling as I thought it would be though. Strange and nightmarish? Yes. Very. But somehow nothing quite managed to unnerve me in a visceral way. The tension and air of mysticism dissipate towards the end of each story (because it’s always cut short!) leaving little to no impression. However, I do think that it perfectly captured the anguish that comes from the feeling of prolonged dissatisfaction and painful monotony of life, implacable despair – the remote hopelessness and helplessness that so afflicts the characters and severe paranoia of the unknown, pushing them to the brink of madness. 

Giving this a bonus .50 stars for the cover which I find to be the most remarkable thing in this book. Also, I wasn't sorely disappointed. Actually, I quite liked a few of the stories: Musique Concrète and Oscar, mainly because their resolutions were a bit more satisfying than the others and Haute Cuisine was oddly funny (or is it just me?) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Body horror

Moderate: Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Child abuse, and Murder

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Infidelity, and Stalking

ohmyhazz's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Sexism, Murder, Mental illness, Grief, Body horror, and Miscarriage

helenamichelle's review

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Murder, Body horror, and Death

klor's review

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

While the book has a good tone, I found it hard to go through it due to the slowness of it all. Maybe I'm just not used to the writing style but in a lot of the short stories, the scares and the feeling of dread feels almost juvenile but also not as engaging. I must say it does have some elements that are common in gothic literature or in works like Junji Ito's but at the end of the day, it just wasn't for me.

My favorite short here is Musique Concrete. I liked the narration a lot as well as the character progression and study.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Death

petit_lecteur's review

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I think what makes Amparo Dávila’s work so intriguing is the sense of foreboding and nostalgia that comes with each story. The first three stories were a few of my favorites, I did enjoy the ambiguous endings for a lot of them, since it allows the reader to decide how the characters should act or think.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

einaudikat's review

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Grief, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Violence