Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite

124 reviews

booksofautumn's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Incest, Kidnapping, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Alcohol, Murder, Pregnancy, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

frantasticmissfox's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Gory, disturbing, and intense but beautifully written and captivating story of the worst of humanity. Only recommend this book to hardcore horror fans, as it is one of the most vivid books I’ve ever read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Body horror, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Stalking, Torture, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Rape, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Suicide, Hate crime, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Violence, and Vomit

worksneakers's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Violence

nexadon's review against another edition

challenging dark funny sad fast-paced

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

4.5

The peak of an ultra-specific genre, strongly reminiscent of regular non-horrific 90's gay pornography with some charming twists. Each and every introduced character is in some way a tragic figure, so do not go into this book expecting goodness and naivety to be rewarded by the narrative.
My only criticism would be directed at the unbalanced nature of the cast and the length of the book (which go hand in hand).
Character talk (DEFINITELY SPOILERS):

While I like Andrew's exclusive access to first person pronouns in the narration because it makes his sections that much more ominous, characters like Luke and Tran who would have benefited from deeper development feel that much flatter in comparison. Luke is the source of my biggest gripes, I feel like a book exclusively focused on him would have drawn me effortlessly, but his role in Exquisite Corpse is a little bit annoying. I love his hateful and "offscreen" monstrous nature, but within the pages of the book he feels rather useless, almost like a bridge between Jay and Andrew and the audience, not "that bad" but still patently reprehensible enough that he's difficult to like.
Tran also seems to suffer a little bit from a similar problem, in that his role as a perfect victim seems to consume his agency. I suppose this is part of his character, but if he has the self-determination to essentially "disown" himself and stay away from Luke I should not be this unimpressed by his efforts to escape. I get that Brite wanted Jay to have his Dahmer moment at the climax of the book, but felt that it sacrificed some clarity in the prose and sunk Tran's character at his final moment to "shine" so to speak. I dont have a lot to say about Jay, hes a bit of a sexy Hannibal Lecter shaped lamp.

Anyways! :3 While the graphic nature of this book cannot be understated, I challenge you to examine the lighthearted elements as well, I honestly found some parts of if... kinda cute!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Blood, Gore, Suicide, and Torture

Minor: Incest

Incest content is either superficial (Two sexually involved characters lie about being cousins) or mentioned in passing and NOT unpacked (a character is quite blase about his past sexual relationship with his brother.) HIVAIDs and characters having, living with, infecting eachother with, and dying of AIDS is central to the plot of this book.

desertlurker's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Addiction, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cursing, Gore, Outing, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Blood, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Vomit, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Rape, Drug use, Violence, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Death, Cannibalism, and Body horror

Moderate: Racial slurs, Police brutality, and Self harm

Minor: Incest and Slavery

pippakendrickk's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Homophobia, Rape, Suicide, Torture, Drug abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Cannibalism, Hate crime, Body horror, Gore, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Racial slurs, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Police brutality, Racism, Terminal illness, and Alcohol

kermitdafrog's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Beautifully, grotesquely written. Definitely a sine out star of the genre. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, Drug use, Torture, Rape, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Homophobia, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, and Death

raccooonhands's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Toxic relationship, Rape, Cursing, Death, Sexual assault, Torture, Terminal illness, Murder, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Medical content, Drug use, Blood, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Xenophobia and Alcohol

Minor: Incest

ireneac's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Hate crime, Sexual content, Blood, Body horror, Death, Murder, and Racism

orizenda's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I barely made it thru tbh. i simultaneously loved and DESPISED most of the characters. i kept asking myself why i was reading it but like the discussion of AIDS opened my eyes tbh. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Cannibalism, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

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