Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw

144 reviews

necroplasm's review

dark tense 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

maybe someday i'll find one of these short horror reads that i actually like! anyways i honestly nearly DNF'd this bc i found the characters and their dynamic to be incredibly obnoxious, but the book was so damn short i figured i'd just finish it anyways. for something that was touted in reviews as ~Sooooo Disturbing~ there were like 2 parts that even had the POTENTIAL to be scary and literally a single kill that was admittedly kinda fucked up but not really Extreme. if this book scared you i'm sorry to say you're a total lightweight 💔

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Murder, Violence, Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Alcohol, and Drug use

Minor: Sexual content

readingmushrooms's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Blood, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, Mental illness, Grief, Excrement, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Infidelity

vivaciousvaleska's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Death, Alcohol, Blood, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, and Violence

samanthalw96's review

tense fast-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: Gore, Alcohol, and Death

Moderate: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Vomit and Infidelity

almostqualified's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Violence

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Toxic friendship

alexisgarcia's review

dark tense fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Violence, Death, and Murder

minimicropup's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

3.0

Intellectual. Overbearing. Ghoulish. 

🇯🇵 Set in a Heian-era mansion in Japan. 

POV: Our MC is recovering from personal crises, while attending their best friend’s wedding in a spooky location, surrounded by a diverse friend group and an ex or two. 

 

Mood Reading Match Up: 

-Elements of friendship drama with a dark twist, kind of reminiscent of a “Friends” sitcom scenario but set in a horror context 

-Historical mansion spooks and hauntings, enveloped in a chilling atmosphere 

-Supernatural Japanese folklore horror 

-Esoteric prose, heavy on lyrical storytelling and symbolic metaphors 

 

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🐺 Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags 🐕 

✏️ Writing: The writing style is fanciful, melodramatic, and somewhat pretentious, but fitting the tone and character. The heavy use of simile and long-winded sentences can make the reading experience challenging but ultimately contributes to the atmospheric and immersive vibes of the story. Without audio I might still be “reading” this though! 

 

🫥 Characters: The protagonist, Cat, is initially unlikeable due to her over-the-top ways, yet her character is shrouded in mystery. The character dynamics and their histories are intriguingly revealed, and that kept me engaged. Their friendship dynamics get messy! 

 

🗺️ Worldbuilding: Despite the complex writing style, the mansion setting is vividly portrayed. I got lost in its spooky corridors without needing a detailed layout. 

 

🔥 Fuel: The suspense builds from the mansion setting, friends telling scary stories, and the gradual layering of supernatural elements. The story delves deep into friendship drama, which had me questioning the true nature of the relationships depicted. 

 

🐢🐇 Pacing: The narrative’s pacing can feel slow due to the dense prose and seemingly random analogies (to me), but the novella’s length feels appropriate for the story being told. 

 

🎬 Scenes: The interactions and decision-making among the characters feel symbolic but can be confusing, with mixed signals about their friendships and intentions. 

 

🤔 Random Thoughts: Overall I think this was a unique blend of horror and folklore, and a deep, atmospheric read with complex character dynamics and cultural depth. I personally found most scenes confusing and strange before I was able to feel the creepiness and horrors. 

 

🎧 Audio: The audio enhances the experience, adding depth and expressiveness that helps the characters and writing flow better. When reading text I kept assigning flat monotone voices to everyone because of the tone I was inferring from the writing, but the audio fixed that for me. 

 

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Content Heads-Up: Suicide (attempted). Mental illness (depression, hallucinations). Body gore (dismemberment, vomit, blood, body fluids). Alcohol (partying; intoxication). Loss of a spouse. Violence (weapons, fists). 

Rep includes: Malaysian, Bengali, Telugu, Japanese, White American, and bisexual characters. 

 

Format: Kindle 

 

“Reviews are my musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶 refined by my AI Bestie ✨”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Violence

wrensreadingroom's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Cursing, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

spadedigsbutts's review

dark emotional mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

2.75

A book that was fun to read for the visual language and descriptions, but was much weaker elsewhere. 

The main conflict is essentially a dysfunctional friend group's issues being exacerbated by a ghost haunting when they were already at the breaking point. Like in most horror media, the cast is pretty unlikable and are mainly defined by their relations to each other, without much nuance independently. This is a normal convention for this scenario in the horror genre, but I wish characters had more arcs or at least more detailed interpersonal relations than "x slept with x once" as the few details we do get just don't have much payoff in the book.
Most characters feel like they start and end the same, which may partially be the point considering it's a super toxic friend group, but it does leave you up in the air when it just comes to an end without much of a huge conclusion. If you read it hoping for some sort of character resolutions, you won't get it.

If you came for a cool japanese influenced haunted house story where interpersonal relationships come to a tragic head, you unfortunately really don't get that. I wish we'd had more time to develop things in the book as while the writing style is lush and detailed, the actual set elements and characters are flimsy. A good read for a bus ride or waiting at a doctor's office, but not much out. I doubt I'll ever reread it.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Blood, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Alcohol, Chronic illness, Classism, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Bullying

Minor: Confinement and Misogyny

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