Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw

54 reviews

sirenesque's review

mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.75

I loved the lore that Khaw incorporated into the text and their descriptions are incredibly macabre in a way that invokes terror, disgust, and fascination. I also really enjoyed their interpretation of the haunted mansion trope. I had a hard time following the storylines because it seemed some of the characters were more developed in personality and backstory than others including the protagonist Cat. I  think this element was meant to create a sense of confusion and lack of empathy for the friend group. However, for me it just left a lot of unanswered questions for why the Cat decides to embark on this trip in the first place aside from the group’s codependency and the fascination with the supernatural. I honestly felt like the supernatural aspects of the story brought out their worst traits and this is what drove us to the conclusion, but I think there was more room to integrate how their personal demons make them prey to these spirits. Overall though, Khaw’s command of language, the vivid scenes of decay and the plots twists made this novella worth the read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Gore, Vomit, and Death

Moderate: Toxic friendship and Alcohol

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

noemi_qu's review

dark emotional tense fast-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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol and Grief

Minor: Suicide attempt, Vomit, and Toxic friendship

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

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

rroseking's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

I listened to this on a long road trip. I thought it was good. I know a lot of people love it. I thought the build up to the big scary was great but then felt like it spiraled a bit after the big reveals. I feel it's short length worked against it a bit in that regard. Great for a quick read or road trip. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Vomit

goose's review

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Read in one sitting. Not for the faint of heart or stomach, this books is naaaasty. The prose was excellent, it has like a tangible ick or grit or something, I can't explain it. Story was ok, got a little tired of how often Phillip's looks were regaled all the time. Like, I know exactly how he looks but I have no idea what the main character looks like.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Murder

Moderate: Excrement and Vomit

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

marleens's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.5

Great haunted house vibes, I would have loved to spend a lot more time wandering through the house, but this being a novella everything was cut short a bit. I think the character work was done well for such a short book and I like liked the literary style of writing. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I knew more about Japanese mythology. I did stop a few times to google certain words or concepts and that helped me understand a bit more what we were seeing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Vomit, Death, and Body horror

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

pizzaisjesus98's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny informative mysterious 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Cursing, Gore, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Alcohol, Excrement, Vomit, Bullying, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, and Mental illness