Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw

97 reviews

readsbymoonlight's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

2.0

Shitty friends who all hate each other act like idiots in a haunted mansion. I enjoyed the writing style, setting, and Japanese folklore but that’s about it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, Blood, Death, and Violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Mental illness

davinmotion's review

dark sad medium-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

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and if it’s a good example of her I think I’ll avoid reading another. It’s barely coherent; I frequently lost track of what was happening and every time I tried to like a character they would somehow become worse than before. Why the author bothered mentioning the main character knew Japanese and then refrained from explaining anything alludes me. I can’t remember if she even said what a yokai was besides peppering the word on almost every page near the end. This book would have at least had style if the incoherentness was intentional in the lead up to the desperation of a climax, but it starts just as bad as it ends. This would have been better if it was shorter, more polished/tighter, and part of a collection of other short stories. There’s a fun idea in here but I personally think this was not finished to its full potential. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Alcohol

What the absolute fuck of an ending. I think this is worse than saying, “it was a dream,” because it was not only less satisfying but the attempt at giving the characters a little more depth felt like a Hail Mary to make us feel for Phillip, when I think it’s obvious he’s the only one we can feel for since he died in such a brutal and unnecessary way. Skin is an organ you dipshits, just a small sliver of that with your other bullshit ingredients and this could be over! Faiz was all gung-ho about cutting out his heart when he could have cut off his pinky finger and solved x3 offerings at once. No death. Done. I won’t even start with that last offering. I can’t imagine Talia and Faiz staying together after this though. Who would want to stay with someone that murdered their friend to save you?

apersonfromflorida's review

dark mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness

the_books_music_life's review

dark mysterious tense fast-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

0.75

The premise sounded so good, like a really scary Japanese horror story, but for me, it missed the mark entirely. This book is so short and they is a lot of background with the characters that is important to the story itself, but is glossed over due to how short the book is.

I was confused a lot of the time about many, many different things. I disliked every single character, none had any redeeming qualities.

The whole 'horror/ghost story' aspect of the book wasn't even the main focus. That's right, a horror book where the actual ghost story/horror wasn't the focus. It made no sense!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Blood, Gore, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Classism, Excrement, Death, Mental illness, and Violence

Minor: Grief and Suicidal thoughts

carriepond's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

2.0

I was really looking forward to reading this horror novella— the cover is deliciously creepy and the premise sounds right up my alley, with Khaw integrating lots of nods to Japanese folklore into this haunted house tale (if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a dozen times: I love a haunted house story).

But. But. I just did NOT like this. I found the writing to be too much— it distracted me. I didn’t feel invested in any of the characters, who were just constantly bickering and who felt superficial, despite the author’s attempts to flesh out their relationships. And the creepy parts that could have really stood out for me just got lost in all of it. 

I have seen a lot of really positive or rave reviews for this one, so it may very well be that I am the wrong reader for this one. But yeah, this wasn’t it for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Gore, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Mental illness

traa's review

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Cursing, Bullying, Gore, Murder, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Mental illness, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Self harm, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, and Vomit

Minor: Biphobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

lili_geek's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Body horror, Toxic friendship, and Mental illness

aparker89's review

dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.5

If you are looking for a quick, terrifying read- look no further. You can smell the rot of this haunted tale and the adventure you take, although predictable, is not a disappointment. You can't help but feast upon the evil, the ghosts and the terror. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Alcohol, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Excrement, Suicide attempt, Classism, Biphobia, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Self harm, and Abandonment

livlamentloathe's review

dark fast-paced

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

3.0

I tried to listen to the audiobook a year ago and it didn’t take, so I gave it a second attempt in hardcover, and I sure finished it.

I got 30+ pgs in and was so blank on the situation. it was so caked in metaphor that i struggled to follow conversations. very over-the-top. but then i got high and the metaphors blended together in a way that it worked. By the end I was like oh okay. fuck. wait! The characters were soaked in so much vitriol, I struggled to understand why they were even friends. And their connections were so weighted with unspoken meaning that I really couldn’t follow things. Hard to decipher under all the merit of words.

This wasn’t good per say… I don’t know that I’d recommend the book. But it sure was an immersive high. So the end really hit me hard.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Grief, and Blood

Moderate: Alcohol, Mental illness, Murder, and Death

Minor: Drug use and Excrement

animarret's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Suicide attempt