Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite

50 reviews

deitydad's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-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

4.5

I can't really say I hated the book since I stayed up all night reading it. I'd been warned that the contents of this book were bad, but I never felt myself particularly grossed out. Was I often stressed? Yes, but that's to be expected. 
The epilogue really gave this book the closure it needed. I was most fascinated with Luke and his story, and it was him that I felt most sad for in the end. He was incredibly flawed, but I suppose we could blame it all on the black, looming cloud marked "AIDS". 
As a member of the LGBT+ community, I have a particular... softness you could say? with the AIDS epidemic. It was prevalent in this story, yet skulked in the background like a third, hidden character in each chapter. 
Despite this being about murdering, I thought most of the characters were likeable. Am I going to leave this book feeling sorry for them or reasoning with them though? Absolutely not.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gore, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, and Murder

menderash's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? Yes

3.5

 Mr Brite has a knack for writing books about horrible people doing horrible things, often for little to no reason, with minimal plot except to make the next horrible thing happen. His main characters are all murderers, rapists, cannibals, necrophiles, or the people who love them anyway. The prose is a means to an end; the end being the reader's hopeful erotic satisfaction of reading someone get nearly decapitated in vivid, lovingly described detail.

But you know what? Brite is such an emotionally charged, evocative, talented writer, that I can't help but be hypnotized by his ability to make me sit down and devour a novel in one sitting. He makes me care about the few morally sound characters even though I know something unspeakable is about to happen to them. He explores the nuance of monstrosity in his uhh. Less morally sound characters.

I think my most sound, least hypocritical criticisms of Brite's work is a) his exploitation of real victims of real tragedies and b) his handling or lack thereof of characters of color. The few non-white characters in his work are relegated to the occasional dead body, future victim, or stereotyped backdrop. Then again, considering the kind of character Brite centers as his protagonists, do I really want him, as a white man, to portray a character of color that way? I'm fine with Brite's beloved monsters being mostly white men.

TL;DR: Absolutely disgusting. Awesome ride. I've read all my Brite books I own at least twice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Incest and Police brutality

racl's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-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

4.25

It's not an easy read, and not one I can recommend to many people in good conscience. It's graphic in many ways - gore, sex, disease, anger - all of which is beautifully and carefully written. Each character feels distinct and well formed as they enter the story and begin to intertwine with each other throughout the novel. I didn't know much going in, but I enjoyed the reality and different perspectives of gay men dealing with the AIDS epidemic (and how it wasn't the motive for either of the murderers). I felt it was handled well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Excrement, and Vomit

Minor: Hate crime, Incest, Misogyny, Police brutality, and Pandemic/Epidemic

remghoul's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Racial slurs, Police brutality, and Outing

vinett's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Torture, Police brutality, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

quietlex's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I have no complaints. As twisted as it is, I was cheering inside when Andrew and Jay finally found each other. To be able to know another so deeply at their core, and have your fleeting time together ripped away so soon. This is a beautifully written dark horror, eloquent and right to the point. The ending feels a bit rushed and sad, such is death. Very fitting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

bowlingforboots's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual violence, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Gore, Rape, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Racial slurs, Blood, and Police brutality

niccolowilliam's review against another edition

dark sad 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? Yes

2.0

It started out horrible then got slightly better towards the end. Dont get me wrong i love disturbing and grotesque things. It honestly wasnt the way they talked about cannibalism and necrophillia it was the weird was they talked about asians and the fact that its clearly Jeffery dahmer 'inspired' (im using the nicer word) which made me really uncomfortable. His victims were real people and the author is definitely not in the demographic that dahmer went after to say the least so ot just feels tone deaf. Every gay charecter is a negative stereotype and

jay and andrew dont even meet until near the end of the story but the summary makes it seem like the main point of the book will be them together not just the mediocre conclusion

Even the sexual and gory stuff (so every other page) felt more for the sake of being shocking and disturbing than weaving an actual plot sometimes. I gave it two stars because there are definitely some moments i liked but i dont even have the energy to write every single issue i had with this story down

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Slavery, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Stalking, and Outing

firstknight's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective sad fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Hate crime, Incest, and Infidelity

janalg's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Rape, Police brutality, and Medical content

Minor: Animal death, Incest, and Suicide