Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

65 reviews

gwenswoons's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

So unusual and truly marvelous in the most literal sense. I LOVED You Made A Fool Of Death With Your Beauty, one of my favorites of the last many years, and thought Vivek Oji was amazing too; but this is my first YA of Emezi’s, and I wasn’t sure what it might be like. But it’s gorgeous - their writing always stuns me and leaves me breathless and this is no different. I thought it was truly incredible, in a work that is so accessible for younger readers, to have language so eloquent and perfumed in the way Emezi’s always is, and to be able to approach the heaviest and most devastating topics of humanity with a light enough touch that a younger reader could live inside this story. I’m not someone who loves fantasy  - I don’t read a lot of sci-fi and fantasy, and sometimes supernatural elements lose me a little bit - but Emezi’s writing is just so beautiful and so compelling at every turn that I didn’t even give a thought to whether or not I believed what was happening (I just: did). Same, somehow, too, with the allegorical/archetypal elements: these could be so obvious and heavy-handed on another writer’s desk, and yet Emezi’s world building and story crafting are so exquisite that every element of the story - every word, every turn of phrase and plot - feels inevitable. Such a gorgeous read, and I thought the audio was gorgeously narrated, too, by Christopher Myers (something about this book as a dark fairytale/ parable worked really beautifully for me in audio format and I feel like Myers really captured for readers that feeling of listening to a story - so good).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Blood, Dysphoria, Grief, and Gore

Minor: Child abuse, Incest, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, War, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, and Transphobia

jenna_justi2004's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Body horror, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Murder, Pregnancy, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Blood, Police brutality, Sexual content, Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Grief, War, Pedophilia, and Gore

grem_ler's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Blood, and Child abuse

Minor: Gore

kri13's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Keeping in mind this book is YA, it is a creative way to broach really difficult subject matter and some of the nuances of how we deal with abusers in our communities and families. Full of a diverse cast this book speaks of progress as an active process not a destination. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore and Violence

Minor: Child abuse and Pedophilia

morebedsidebooks's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Pedophilia, Blood, and Child abuse

Minor: Racism, Slavery, Transphobia, Ableism, Classism, Cursing, Police brutality, Death, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

choicepotatoes_yetagain's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

5.0 - would read again
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just as powerful the second time around

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Child abuse and Physical abuse

softgalaxy's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This was a very short read, which is my biggest criticism. But overall, a solid read. 

It’s a very haunting story to read when you live in a world that has the very popular phrase “fake news”. This book was much larger than itself. Literally, like Pet. As you read, you feel the real world loom over you. 

I really liked the lack of emphasis on Jam’s trans identity. Sometimes in books, there has to be a whole chapter dedicated to a character and their struggles being trans. Jam was just transgender and that was that. Trans people just exist.

Pet was a bizarre ‘monster’ - you sadly don’t get to understand where Pet comes from - like why did it come out of a painting? Obviously there’s a lot of symbolism to unpack, but you really could be here all day.

The reason this review is not a full 5 stars is because of the ending - it seemed to backtrack on everything the book was saying.

Making an evil character have a physical flaw is a harmful ableist trope.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Child abuse

Minor: Blood, Gore, Body horror, and Dysphoria

glitterdeww's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

At four pages into this book, I set it down and immediately made a list of other Akwaeke Emezi novels to grab as soon as I see them.

Four pages.

This writing is gorgeous. Not flowery nor verbose... It's beautiful like a blade is beautiful. There's a strength and sharpness to this story. Pet is concise, emotional, challenging, cutting... And very lovely. It felt just like a struggle tinged with hope. And considering that difficulty, I'm actually glad it was as short as it was.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Gore

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Police brutality, Medical content, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, and Incest

Minor: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, War, Mental illness, Sexual content, Abandonment, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Mass/school shootings, Ableism, Confinement, Gore, Suicide, Transphobia, and Vomit

Ableism warning is to err on the side of caution, for disability framed as a punishment near the end.

azalia's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, War, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Incest, and Child abuse

Minor: Body horror, Cursing, and Gore