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dasaiva's review
dark
emotional
sad
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
5.0
bergamotandbooks's review
1.0
DNF
I knew this was “extreme horror” going in, but what I didn’t anticipate was the derogatory language towards POC used by the characters. Authors, you can show the depravity of your characters AND not make them racist POSs. Hard pass.
I knew this was “extreme horror” going in, but what I didn’t anticipate was the derogatory language towards POC used by the characters. Authors, you can show the depravity of your characters AND not make them racist POSs. Hard pass.
marjati_reads'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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Drug use, Torture, Murder, Vomit, Child abuse, Gore, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Violence, Physical abuse, Blood, Child death, Death, Racism, Sexual assault, and Police brutality
tinyjenus's review
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Murder, Miscarriage, Violence, Vomit, and Sexual content
Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism
Minor: Rape, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault
tidey's review
challenging
dark
tense
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
4.0
thedustbunnyslibrary's review against another edition
2.0
2.5-2.8? 3 is probably too high.. I honestly don’t know! I had a love/hate relationship with this book. Hear me out.
The writing was kind of terrible, specifically the author over-explaining things and the completely unnatural dialogue. I almost put it down so..many..times.
Almost.
But this story was SO CHAOTIC. I had to keep reading. I had to know what could possibly happen next, how could it get any worse? How hectic could the author make it? It was all over the place and I had a blast.
The ending made me wish it wasn’t an ebook so I could chuck it across the room. Sigh.
A lot of potential here though. I might have to check out more of their books in the future!
The writing was kind of terrible, specifically the author over-explaining things and the completely unnatural dialogue. I almost put it down so..many..times.
Almost.
But this story was SO CHAOTIC. I had to keep reading. I had to know what could possibly happen next, how could it get any worse? How hectic could the author make it? It was all over the place and I had a blast.
The ending made me wish it wasn’t an ebook so I could chuck it across the room. Sigh.
A lot of potential here though. I might have to check out more of their books in the future!
gunderchump's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
gingerspooks's review against another edition
3.0
This book gave off Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses blended in with Natural Born Killers and I liked it so much. The pace is perfect, the brutality and gore is perfect. I actually live in East Tennessee so it was great to finally find a book that was centered around my home. Can we just talk about that ending though? Throughout the whole book nothing made me angry or upset until the very last page. I was seething by the end of the last paragraph. All in all this book is something I’d highly recommend for anyone who loves extreme horror.
spooky_librarian's review against another edition
4.0
I was going to give this 3 stars but bumped it to 4 for how unputdownable this novella was—I read it in one sitting. I’m a huge extreme-horror fan and don’t get squeamish easily, so I was all in for the masochism and violence. The ending of each chapter had me anxiously diving into the next one. Plus the story idea is brilliant. A newly wed couple decide to live out their true-crime obsessed fantasies by kidnapping, torturing, and killing random strangers. So as a whole, they are terrible people (but between the two, the woman is a freaking psychopath and terrifying).
I was personally upset by how the one POC character in this book was handled. However, after ranting/discussing the book with my husband and having him break down how not-far-from-reality the treatment of the POC character actually was, I had a slight change of heart. This book is about a cis-gendered white couple who are FULLY aware of their privilege and they hope to use it to literally get away with murder. That’s the horror.
…I’m still upset. But it’s Splatterpunk! Splatterpunk is upsetting. I’ve read worse. The whole point of the book is to display two very messed up people doing very messed up things to those who are innocent simply because they think they can get away with it. And that’s upsetting. I’m upset, and could always do without racial violence in my horror novels—especially when it’s written by white men. It’s something that triggers me as a WOC. But the book was still really good in my opinion. So I guess I can be upset and like a book at the same time??? I don’t know. Do with that what you will. I’m conflicted and my thoughts are all jumbled! Eventually I will have a more comprehensible review, but today it’s all feelings!
I was personally upset by how the one POC character in this book was handled. However, after ranting/discussing the book with my husband and having him break down how not-far-from-reality the treatment of the POC character actually was, I had a slight change of heart. This book is about a cis-gendered white couple who are FULLY aware of their privilege and they hope to use it to literally get away with murder. That’s the horror.
…I’m still upset. But it’s Splatterpunk! Splatterpunk is upsetting. I’ve read worse. The whole point of the book is to display two very messed up people doing very messed up things to those who are innocent simply because they think they can get away with it. And that’s upsetting. I’m upset, and could always do without racial violence in my horror novels—especially when it’s written by white men. It’s something that triggers me as a WOC. But the book was still really good in my opinion. So I guess I can be upset and like a book at the same time??? I don’t know. Do with that what you will. I’m conflicted and my thoughts are all jumbled! Eventually I will have a more comprehensible review, but today it’s all feelings!