Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen

46 reviews

apridot's review

dark funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

Delightfully gross, I wish there was more about Patricia and not just at the end, but this book was such a great quick read and I loved the setting as a fellow PNWer

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Car accident, Death, and Gore

chanlo1994's review

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

This was an interesting read, because it felt like I was reading a horror film (in a cool way). I wish it was a little longer to explain a few more things, but I believe it's so we can leave it up to our imagination about what actually happened and why.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Gore, Gun violence, Outing, Murder, Vomit, Car accident, Homophobia, and Body horror

Moderate: Alcoholism

withlivjones's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.0

This was a gripping read. I don’t read a lot of horror or gore but I was thoroughly glued to the page. The characters are all pretty morally grey and unlikeable, and I enjoyed the exploration of the reality TV genre. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, Death, Body horror, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Car accident, Lesbophobia, Vomit, Alcoholism, and Suicidal thoughts

kaylaogle's review against another edition

dark funny fast-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

3.5

Possibly one of the weirdest books I’ve ever read in my life and I would like to read more like it. Ultimately it was very fun, and I liked Renee and her internal monologue. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

mathmagicalreader's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious slow-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Car accident, Death, and Gore

Minor: Alcoholism and Abortion

christine_d's review

dark mysterious 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? No

3.0

the positives:
this is a quick, snappy read with an engaging writing style that is easy to read. i zipped through it in one night and it really gripped me. the horror elements, shall we say, really had me tense. i particularly liked the concept of these “airheaded” dating reality show contestants behind the scenes, and the conversations that both they and the producers/filmmakers had on the side too.

right from the start, the way renee describes amanda had me wondering if something more would happen there. and i was surprised how much i became invested in mike and casey’s situationship.

i also really enjoyed the media elements of the book - blog posts, forum threads, etc., which made reading this book almost feel like reading a documentary - between the rotating perspectives, the plot revolving around reality tv, the mystery/suspense element, etc. in general i’d say this book has good bones - characters that i could become invested in, good writing style, dry and witty humor, and an interesting plot concept.

the negatives:
for me, this book missed in a couple of key ways. for one, it does feel quite short to read, and over the course of the book, i don’t have any true feeling of any of the characters developing in any material sense, or finding a satisfying plot resolution. i was interested in all of the main characters - both the contestants, producers, and jeremy - and wanted to better understand their motivations, but they fall a bit flat. 

renee is supposed to be our main protagonist, it seems, but she is essentially written as emotionally numb for 90% of the book, before pivoting to a semi-delusional worship for lady sasquatch. not that i’m opposed to emotionally numb characters, but why did she feel and act the way she did? why did she agree to go on the show in the first place if she finds it so worthless and tokenizing? it feels like the only thing i knew about her was that she is black and an english major, and bisexual. but who is she?? the fact that she is so tight lipped throughout the story plus her emotionally numb narration make it hard to discern her true motivations and feelings aside from just generally despising the reality show. 

i wish that there was a bit more development of the characters - i would have liked to see how the spat between casey and matt played out. i originally thought the book would end with renee and one of the contestants falling in love and running away to the palm springs resort. 

i also would have really liked to see the aftermath of amanda and renee’s kiss. that felt like such a promising moment, especially with jeremy attacking renee about it afterwards. then the horror of renee finding amanda’s body diverts the plot back to sasquatch. 

and in some of the final scenes, i was baffled by renee not just refusing to attack sasquatch, but directing sasquatch to kill jeremy? i know she thought he was a stupid fuck (and he was), but he died gruesomely and she did not react at all.

final thoughts:
it’s a quick, “fun”, gripping read about The Bachelor if it was even sleazier, but there were a lot of unresolved plot points that left me a bit baffled and wrong-footed by the end. the final leg of the book is frankly a bit bizarre. while i do like the concept of

Ms. Sasquatch and her team of loyal lesbian guardians

, i think i would have enjoyed this book more if any of the arguments, relationships, or character tensions were resolved satisfyingly by the end of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Body horror

Minor: Racism and Homophobia

grunbean's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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

5.0

I devoured this. This book is my flavour of weird, and I could not put it down. Woman’s wrongs, reality TV and commentary on society, lesbians, the Pacific Northwest, and a cryptid? Sign me up.

From the reviews I read I was expecting this to be pulpy. I can see that, but is this is pulp then it’s the best pulp I’ve ever read. I want more of this, which is my only complaint. 

I don’t feel like I can describe my experience without spoilers. It might not be the weirdest out there, but it will take you for a wild ride. And, for me, the gore is VISCERAL.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Abortion, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Biphobia, and Homophobia

cmboyke's review

dark funny lighthearted mysterious 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

4.75

This was the perfect thrill ride to pull me out of my reading slump. Once I started, it was difficult not to read the rest. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Classism, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Bullying, Colonisation, Sexism, Violence, Gore, Homophobia, Medical content, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Lesbophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Gun violence, Sexual harassment, Death, Car accident, Murder, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Self harm, Ableism, Drug use, Kidnapping, Abortion, Biphobia, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Racism, Stalking, and Toxic friendship

averyt121's review

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Murder, Violence, Body horror, Death, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, and Blood

abigailc0x'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Weird book? good but also what 
I liked the pacing of the second half of the book but the first half did go very slow for me 
So confused would have kind of liked more of an explanation but whatever
For a book that says it’s a queer horror it isn’t very gay more a book that just had a gay couple in 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Death, and Car accident

Moderate: Body horror, Alcoholism, and Gun violence