Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

18 reviews

fleabagb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

0.5

 I hate to say this because this book was on my list for so long and I truly was enjoying myself so very much until I hit this part with a chapter from the perspective of Amy she had described two fat people in such a horrific way I annotated it how disappointed I was and that I truly thought that was the end of the road with me and this book. After sitting on it for a few days I have decided to DNF this book because of the verbiage used to depict characters of a bigger size. I was heartbroken reading this. It was downright fatphobic, harmful and absolutely unnecessary as these character were literally just filler, so it felt like an even bigger hit when Gillian chose to hit on that topic in a scene where it added nothing but a bad taste in my mouth. I guess it just goes to show just how casual fatphobia is and has become in our social environment. And I can't speak for you, but for me, for myself, my own sense of self and pride - I absolutely cannot forgive someone for writing characters that let's be honest, look like me, in such a wrenching way. Not to mention the characters she chose to shame had no big impact role in the story other than this hatred-spewing spiral she went on about "how dare a fat mushroom tummied person utilize the same resources as she does, how dare they be sitting down and fat, who knows if they're disabled but to hell with them!" Shame on you Gillian, shame on you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcoholism, Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Fatphobia, Cancer, Classism, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual content, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Dementia, Murder, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Sexual assault

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book is vicious. I adore how you never truly like or trust Nick and Amy. You always feel that there is something we as an audience dont know. I mean I can't help but root for Amy as a girls girl but both Nick and Amy are hardcore narcissistic sociopaths. They both truly believe that they're in the right and the other deserves death or jail time. Its amazing how Flynn makes both Dunnes people you hope make it out and people you hope go to prison. I just wish it was formatted a little more comprehensively. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Blood, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Stalking, Confinement, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infertility, Pregnancy, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Sexism, Violence, Alcohol, Misogyny, Cancer, Classism, Medical content, Domestic abuse, and Gore

hannahmg's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

 0/1 overall
1/2 writing/structure/character creation
1/2 enjoyment

I would not recommend this book.

Overall I did not enjoy this book, the first 250 page were not needed and were poorly written, the last 50 pages were as bad as the first part of the book. I only enjoyed a small snippet of the book. The length of this triller is way to long and unnecessary. I felt like I was reading a first draft of a idea.

The writing was partly smart with good ideas but poorly done, the journal extracts giving us a unreliable pov which was smart, reminded me of Dracula, but this was done in a manner which made it worthless, more dialogue than actually description, this was so unrealistic it was unnecessary to make it seem like a dairy. Nicks pov was closer to a dairy than Amy's own dairy entries. The repetition was unbearable, -yes Nick we get it you have a mistress and she is young, very young, and pretty.
The character creation was immense and well though through, Amy and Nick are both so realistic but fucked up at the same time. This is one of the major reasons it is a two and not a one star review.

I thought there was a lot of unnecessary added details, the level of Misogyny and sexism was not needed and weakly touched on at the end. Specifically the character of Nick's father who has Dementia and becomes extremely misogynistic, with the use of the slur "bitch" in both his speech and Nicks thoughts. Why add this, I just think the book would of been fine without it and it didn't feel like a representation of any sorts but more a tick for the check list and even excusing the behaviour.

I was very disappointed in the trigger warning list i found (Storygraph). Yes it is a thriller, we should expect triggering things but at the end of the day the book should have a page of trigger warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Death, Self harm, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Cursing, Cancer, Vomit, Violence, Murder, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Gore, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Dementia, Terminal illness, Infertility, Grief, Rape, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Torture, Misogyny, Miscarriage, and Lesbophobia

izachime's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Dementia, Rape, Self harm, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

unprepossesin's review against another edition

dark inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.75

It is a very delevoped story, very compelling- still in shock, i have been a bit iffy on the ending, its bittersweet. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Body horror

itsbumley's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Cancer, Body shaming, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Murder, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

isanwhittaker's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

The first half was def necessary for the reveal, but it was sooooooo slowwwww i could not get over it 😭😭 its embarrassing how long it took me to finish this book BECAUSE of the first half. The second half i read in two sittings, FIVE STARS ⭐️ for the second half.

unhinged women = chefs kiss

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Cursing, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, and Infidelity

sjanke2's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Body horror, Pregnancy, Self harm, Blood, Alcohol, Confinement, Kidnapping, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, and Rape

optimisms's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This book is hard to review. There's a lot of competing factors in my mind when it comes to how I feel about this book. First, I watched the movie before reading the book; it was actually the reason I read the book, and I think it's such a fantastic adaptation that I would rather rewatch the movie than reread the book. Second, even if I hadn't watched the movie, I've watched enough Youtube video essays on feminism in film to know the big twist, so there was very little shock factor for me. And third, while I think this book was written extremely well, I don't really...love it. I can't put my finger on why – there was nothing that jumped out as being completely contrary to my tastes. It's an undeniable page turner, and even knowing what would happen, I read 95% of it in one day. I think the writing is phenomenal, and it feels like we're reading the inner thoughts of two distinct but intelligent writers. The characters are detestable but they are both so unique and complex to remain interesting no matter how much they disgust you. The pacing is a bit slow but everything feels deliberate, every new bit of information or small twist coming exactly when it was needed. Even though I knew the twist, I still felt the tension building and wanted to keep reading to see how it all fell apart, and I imagine that if I didn't know what was coming, I would've been completely torn about what to believe and expect. It was truly a great book! But I can't bring myself to rate it higher than 4 stars because there's just something about it that didn't completely do it for me. (I still plan to read more Gillian Flynn, though, because wow, can she write!)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Death, Blood, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Gaslighting, and Body horror

Moderate: Confinement, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Sexism, Cancer, Sexual violence, Gore, Death of parent, Grief, Pregnancy, and Rape

Minor: Drug abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Incest, Alcohol, Child abuse, Classism, Dementia, and Stalking

thereaderfriend's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Loved the suspense, the tension, the unreliability and many plot twists. Even liked the use of unlikable and unredeemable characters in this. Just felt the ending was off so I'm knocking my score for it but it's probably the best thriller I've read. Definitely read the trigger warnings before reading the book. There were a lot. Take heed with them. Tried to get them all but may have missed a few.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Rape, Blood, and Infidelity

Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Self harm, Sexism, Alcohol, Body horror, Confinement, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Pregnancy, Stalking, Vomit, Gaslighting, Infertility, Misogyny, and Panic attacks/disorders