Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

12 reviews

fanboyriot's review against another edition

dark fast-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? It's complicated

3.0

I’ve had this book for a while and just got around to reading.  Naturally, I went into it knowing nothing, as one does.  To say it was not what I was expecting was an understatement.  The plot did have a promise, there were some things that seemed all too realistic in a horror-ish paranoid way.  The setting was done nicely at least.

Honestly, most of what I didn’t like was the ending.  We got no answers for anything really, and it left with absolutely no resolution.  It just felt like it was dragged out and then it just ended.  The switching POV I normally really like just didn’t work for me; they just seemed too close to one another and a few pages in I’d forget which character it even was.

(First Person POV)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Genocide, Death, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Torture, Body horror, Gore, Blood, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Animal death, Confinement, Chronic illness, Abandonment, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Child death, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Ableism, Vomit, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Cursing, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, War, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, and Eating disorder

jetromeo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Eating disorder, and Medical content

Minor: Suicide

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Violence

r__a's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, and Grief

Moderate: Bullying, Torture, Eating disorder, Terminal illness, and Murder

sonoma's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Suicide, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Vomit, Blood, Child death, Death, Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Violence

miabellawymer's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

I got really roped into this book while reading it. I couldn't put it down, and it kept me up at night.

The ending was very anticlimactic, and the desciptions are quite graphic

. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Self harm, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Abandonment, Confinement, Eating disorder, Grief, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

Very detailed desciptions of injuries.

orcamagicka's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

When I saw this was a feminist Lord of the Flies meets the film Annihilation I was VERY intrigued. Unfortunately, I could not connect to the characters. They seemed very one-dimensional and Hetty, the main character, was very bland and dislikeable in my opinion. Many of the characters made obviously stupid decisions throughout the story and at times the book was incredibly frustrating to read. Hetty made the most of these decisions and I hated how despite all the mistakes she makes and the intense suffering her actions put the other characters through, she never fully suffers the consequences of her own actions. The plot moved way too slowly for the first portion of the story and honestly didn't get remotely "scary" until maybe the last quarter. I see a lot of people complaining about the ending and that it was "too ambiguous" or "left too many unanswered questions". Personally, I thought the ending was appropriate for the story (in fact WAY better than I was expecting) and as a huge horror fan, endings like this are common for the genre. It ends with the potential for a sequel but either way I think the story is fine as a stand-alone. Overall this book had a lot of promise but fell short for me

 

Also there seemed to be some plot holes in the story. If the Tox is a parasite how on earth did the CDC and Navy not discover this when researching the nine girls? A massive parasitic worm doesn't sound like it would be hard to find in the body, and could be removed with some ease. Also how on earth was Teddy infected just by kissing Byatt? My best guess was they transferred parasitic eggs or microscopic worms but if that's the case, all of the girls would have more than one adult worm in their body

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Gore, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Vomit

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Abandonment, Animal death, and Eating disorder

keen's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Initially, I felt off about this book. It didn't feel like horror, it felt like a thriller. High-stakes and tense moments, but nothing scary past the graphic body horror. As a body horror fan, that was enough to keep me going, even if I wasn't sure I was reading a horror book.

It took me until halfway through to realize I went into this book with the wrong expectations. Not every horror story involves running away from a murderer or trying to escape the attention of a ghost. This is a story about being trapped in a bleak situation and trying to survive when everything is out to kill you. It's about the strength of love and friendship that powers you through every horror you face.

Once I realized that, the emotional horror of this book hit me. Every paragraph made me question if there was some ounce of hope in the end. I can say I was satisfied with what I received, even if in the end it felt like I had no idea where I was being led until I was punched in the gut.

Additionally, I enjoyed the characters. There were times when I was angry at them, wondering why the girls were behaving so irrationally and why the adults felt so unhelpful. I had to remind myself of what it would be like to be a 14 to 17 year old girl, trapped on an island with a virus twisting your body into a mockery of itself, with little to no hope of surviving. Alternatively, I had to imagine what it would be like to take care of these children and watch as they die off, one by one. There's no way I could react logically in either scenario. The characters did the best they could do in the situation they were forced into and trapped in.

I admire stories that make me read deeper into the thoughts of the characters. To me, a good horror story makes me compare how I would face each situation to how the characters do. In this case, every event made me want to throw up, run away, or cry.

So, yeah, this story gave me the emotional turmoil. I was joyfully horrified.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Animal death, Eating disorder, Genocide, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Bullying and Cursing

ppixxie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I've been putting off reading this for the LONGEST time for no goddamn reason. Then my library hold(s) came in. Oh my GOD was I not disappointed. Going in, I thought there would be a lot more horror/body horror elements/cosmic horror-esque elements, which was probably why I found it hard to get into the first half of the book where it focuses mainly on world-building. (The beginning mainly reads like a dystopian survival horror?) 

But boy does it pick up. I love to read a nasty female character, and this is no exception. I can't talk about a lot of the stuff that happens, because it's spoilers and this book is a nice one to go into with 0 knowledge. It ends on an ambiguous note (almost a sequel hook, and I've heard whispers around that there's going to be a sequel or something??) but I liked how it ended, and I probably would have been satisfied with just this book as a standalone.

Anyways, if you like gay horror, definitely check this one out!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Vomit, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Self harm, Suicide, and Torture

Moderate: Eating disorder and Emotional abuse

Minor: Bullying and Cursing

starccato's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Death, Violence, Self harm, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical trauma, and Grief

Minor: Animal death, Cursing, and Bullying