Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Sluts by Dennis Cooper

67 reviews

j_yarbrough's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Stalking, Abortion, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Addiction, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Vomit, Blood, Death, Hate crime, Incest, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Chronic illness, Drug use, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Medical content, Cancer, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Slavery, and Violence

ginger_curmudgeon's review against another edition

dark

• Loveable characters? No

3.75

I’ve read some pretty weird or twisted books. I enjoy them sometimes. “The Sluts” might be the most twisted that I have read, and, yes, I enjoyed it. I couldn’t put it down. I read it in two evenings. 

One of the things that made it a quicker read is the structure. The story opens as a series of online reviews about a male escort. There’s a section that’s a message board on the same website, a section of emails, and then another section of reviews. 

Part of the story is the growing depravity of the men reviewing, discussing and debating the escort and his pimp/handler/co-conspirator. Another part of the story is that you’re not entirely sure what’s real and what isn’t. There’s a conspiracy/con or two at play throughout the novel. 

There’s not a lot of humanity found in these characters. They’re fairly awful people. But, is this all just a reflection of how horrible people can be in real life and/or of how the internet has given people a forum to explore the dark corners of their minds? Either way, Cooper certainly knows how to keep your attention while showing a dark side of life. 

TW: sexual assault, graphic violence, taboo

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual content

paulus_on_the_rocks's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

Voir les TW (j'insiste lourdement)

J'ai ouvert le bouquin en me disant joyeusement, enfin un auteur qui ne se fout pas de notre gueule quand il décide d'écrire du cul. Oh boy. Cooper ne se fout pas de notre gueule sur absolument aucun sujet.

C'est à la fois le roman le plus horrible et le plus intelligent que j'ai lu depuis très, très longtemps, si ce n'est toujours. J'ai vraiment hésité à lui mettre un full five stars car ce n'est absolument pas un livre que je conseillerais (cf le nombre ahurissant de TW) mais, en même temps, je l'ai trouvé extrêmement intéressant du point de vue narratif.

Si vous n'avez pas l'estomac fragile et que vous aimez le concept de unreliable narrator, foncez, mais j'insiste : ce n'est vraiment, vraiment pas du petit lait, le livre est extrêmement graphique.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Excrement, Gore, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Rape, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Violence, Vomit, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Body horror, Chronic illness, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, and Toxic relationship

paigie_pie's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, Sexual content, Drug use, Rape, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Death, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Torture, Self harm, Blood, Murder, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Adult/minor relationship, and Addiction

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Cancer, Pregnancy, Homophobia, Cursing, Suicide, and Excrement

msdiamar's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Cancer, Pedophilia, Excrement, Gore, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Terminal illness, Addiction, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Homophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, and Vomit

lovesimon's review against another edition

5.0

This book was so hard to read, but so gripping I couldn't put it down. Really interesting exploration of sexuality, Internet culture, and the psychological profile of the Internet scammer which is a type of person I find endlessly fascinating. Really cool play with form. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Pedophilia, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Homophobia, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Death, Rape, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Sexual violence, Excrement, Drug use, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, and Body horror

amandesite's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, and Murder

dannycrimes's review against another edition

dark funny

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

4.75

You know those books that are fantastic, but you cannot ever tell another human being to read them? This is one of those. Brilliantly written whilst being incredibly tough to get through. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Mental illness

Moderate: Terminal illness and Chronic illness

Brief but graphic depictions of deliberate spreading of HIV

ekaramanov's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Medical content, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

aknaag's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

4.75

Girl…. This was something… and this was a lot.

The setting and the pacing of this book and overall layout is different to conventional books, it’s fun, which I enjoyed! 

Idk if it’s because of the way I downloaded it but the authors name and the book title  weirdly appears in the middle of almost every page that caught me off guard sm times, idk if it’s downloaded error or something but I got used it midway so that’s fine.

The plot…. Ugh the plot.. deplorable. So tragic and just makes you question and shake your head at humanity honestly.

There’s this spectrum in which sex is written and viewed in books, it’s either realistically romantic and spicy or realistically degrading and abhorrent. And it was very much the latter. At least that’s how I felt. Just needed a shower and the strong feel to be celibate.

Tragic character/(s) but such an interesting rabbit hole of a mystery. The way it kept unfolding really had me gagged. Just overall, the plot ATE. 

If you’re a person with a ding dong, going to read this book? I highly suggest you mentally prepare for it because the detailed scenes of violence sometimes became too much for me and I can’t imagine how you’d feel having a wiener.

Honestly, this ATE. I finished it in a DAY. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Suicide, Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Sexual assault, Torture, Drug use, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, and Vomit