Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Sluts by Dennis Cooper

17 reviews

jemmers's review against another edition

Too many characters and a convoluted storyline. I thought it was cool at first trying to piece this, albeit fucked up, mystery together from escort reviews and discussion board posts. But there are WAY too many characters to keep track of. My brain felt like that Pepe Silvia meme. The mental work to figure out who snuffed who, if any snuffing actually occurred at all, is not worth it, imo. Like I just don’t care enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Stalking, Torture, Violence, Blood, Gore, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Alcohol, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Kidnapping, Terminal illness, Trafficking, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Sexual violence, Mental illness, and Pregnancy

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

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

angelicardale's review against another edition

this book is disgusting honestly lol .. exquisite corpse had more tact than a single page of this book did (and that was another one-star book for me). i hate that i had no idea what i was getting myself into. for all the graphic and horrific depictions of pedophilia and csa in this book (that read less like tragedy and more like torture p0rn, tbh), i really really wish it'd been explicitly stated in the blurb, or at the very least, in a content warnings list ANYWHERE in the book. there's not even an author's note. as a writer, i understand to a certain degree, but it's just plain negligent to not warn readers or categorize it in the right genre !!!! this was under general fiction at barnes & noble. it should be considered splatterpunk tbh. anyway screw tiktok for recommending me this book it was awful and not worth finishing imo.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Self harm, Rape, Alcohol, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Domestic abuse, Death, Chronic illness, Addiction, Pedophilia, Blood, Trafficking, Violence, Terminal illness, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Medical trauma, Child death, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Body horror, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Medical content, Hate crime, Gun violence, and Drug abuse

otherworlds's review against another edition

3.0

Engaging framing device and mystery. However, it fell flat for me in a lot of ways. It invoked a lot of horrific trauma without necessarily treating it with the weight and realism it deserved. There were also significant formatting problems that broke my immersion. It was interesting but ultimately didn't measure up to the hype. I personally wouldn't recommend it. Please heed the trigger warnings, especially for pedophilia, sex trafficking, torture, and rape.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Torture, Gore, Medical trauma, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Rape, Kidnapping, and Trafficking

josephsand's review against another edition

challenging dark tense 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

3.5

 insanely gripping and completely unputdownable.. 

the last third is some of the nastiest, most stomach turning stuff i’ve ever read. my jaw was agape the entire time. totally vile & expertly told, what a story…

the content warnings are not a joke this book is filthy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Addiction, Gun violence, Murder, Drug use, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Blood, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Gore, Kidnapping, Body horror, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Vomit

kibernick's review against another edition

challenging dark funny 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

3.5

A very interesting medium for storytelling - the story is told through reviews on a gay escort site in the early 2000s. It gets very dark, very quickly. The book is extremely transgressive, please check a long list of content warnings. 

Certain passages reminded me of stumbling across disturbing blogs and websites back in the day, that left me scarred for days. I had trouble remembering who was who or who was real, but I think that was what the author was going for (maybe profile photos would’ve helped :) ). 

Overall the book is an interesting read, if only to see how transgressive and innovative writers can be (which can be refreshing). Would be curious to check out the author's other works.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Violence, Emotional abuse, Cancer, Cannibalism, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Rape, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Terminal illness, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Blood, Murder, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Death, Drug use, and Excrement

shalalalala's review against another edition

dark sad tense 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? It's complicated

Impossible to rate

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Mental illness, Self harm, Cancer, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Drug abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Body horror

freddybingsu's review

dark 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Death, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual violence, and Torture

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

wormariwood's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Gore, Medical trauma, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Addiction, Sexual content, Stalking, Torture, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Drug use, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, and Excrement