Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

185 reviews

emilywemily6's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I absolutely loved this book and bought the rest of Gong’s work because of it. This story is such a unique retelling with little hints of Shakespeare while being entirely its own thing. I loved the combination of gangster blood feuds, political intrigue, a mysterious madness sweeping the city, and a touch of romantic tension. The characters are vibrant yet morally grey and very interesting. Although it was on the longer side, I enjoyed every minute of it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Medical content, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Homophobia, and Sexual content

caseythereader's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism and Transphobia

maddognews's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book was an absolute delight to listen to and I loved all the references to Romeo and Juliet. I would have liked to see more if Roma point of view especially when it came to his feelings for Juliet. Along with the point of views of the side characters as I felt they could be dug into more in more detail.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Gore

Minor: Homophobia

akane_readsyt's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Body shaming, Child abuse, Drug use, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Police brutality, and Dysphoria

c_ary's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Xenophobia and War

jessiereads98's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

Overall this was really enjoyable. A unique take on Romeo and Juliet, but maybe the best one I’ve read in being both recognizable and tolerable. Chloe Gong successively captures the atmosphere of the setting. There does seem to be the occasional anachronism, but nothing glaring or intolerable. Juliette came off as the badass heroine that YA stories often strive for without seeming flat or cringey. My biggest criticism would be that this is definitely overwritten in parts. There’s many instances where the prose could be simplified and tightened up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Police brutality, and Trafficking

chronicacademia's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicide, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Drug use, Genocide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

thewildmageslibrary's review against another edition

3.5

Hey look, I finally read this! It wasn't quite my thing? A bit more horror-y than I expected. But I'll still read the sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Transphobia, Medical content, and Grief

Minor: Deadnaming, Drug use, and Death of parent

memoirsofabooklover's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

i enjoyed this more than i thought i would. i liked the modern retelling of romeo and juliet, &

that they already had a past & were aged up so it was a new take, despite it being obvious they’d end up together.

majority of the plot was predictable with a few unexpected twists in there. quite political; so took me a little longer to get into it but was relevant to the story. i liked some of the side characters, they added depth to the story and it was left in a way that i want to read the sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Grief, and Alcohol

karcitis's review against another edition

Just not in the mood, lots of gore.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Alcohol, and War