Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Animal: A Novel by Lisa Taddeo

29 reviews

llyan's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense slow-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

4.25

Loved!! But also kinda disliked reading this book! 

I pretty much blind brought this book after a recommendation from my local book guy, and I have to say this is right up my alley!

Joan was unhinged and so weird. This book was bleak and dreadful and weird but so funny and real, i have to say it was almost perfect

I was promised murder and a disturbing read and that's exactly what i got but

the first actual murder, i think, didn't happen until chapter 32/37, and it wasn't even done by her!! Thankfully, her murder happened shortly after.

this book has also been an incredibly slow read, and im not usually a fan of those but Joan (and of course Taddeo's writing) was so gripping i couldn't stop reading. I adored the way occasionally she talks to "us" very unsettling in the beginning but i will die for a good second pov book

Also?? Talk about being such a huge tease? I generally felt like cuck reading this from the way she kept teasing that she'll murder someone but doesn't actually so it. Tf. So relatable tho!!

Apart from the pregnancy and the whole motherhood thing, this book would've been a perfect and solid 5 star read 

Overall, I'm sorta but also really happy to have read this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Miscarriage, Rape, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Gore

Childbirth

ktwoolen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I loved this story but as a mother I was so triggered and disturbed by so much of the dialog and imagery. Truly a heartbreaking read for me. A lot of reviews said it’s about how being in your 30s can make you want to kill- but to me it was about how parent trauma and send you on a spiral of self degradation, and how being treated like you’re disposable by everyone that’s ever come into your life can make you want to kill. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Suicide, Infertility, Abortion, Alcohol, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Murder, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Sexism, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Addiction, Gaslighting, Dementia, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Vomit, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

Really hard mother/daughter trauma to get through, along with detailed description of a miscarriage.

clairebartholomew549's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

I don't know how to feel about this book. I resonated with a lot of its themes and assertions about the ceaseless violence men commit against women and the ways our entire inner lives are shaped by the men we're exposed to, and I appreciated Joan's unabashed commitment to voicing the darkest parts of herself. But I found the plot kind of tiring, definitely disturbing, and vaguely performative; it felt a little redundant of other books I've read like it before, like The Girls and Bright Young Women, and it was not an enjoyable read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Sexism, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Gore, Pregnancy, Rape, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Blood, Death of parent, Dementia, Drug use, Violence, Grief, and Vomit

hanltosh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Miscarriage, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Abortion, Blood, and Death of parent

addythebookbat's review

slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Blood, Body horror, Drug use, Drug abuse, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Child abuse, Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

imogenimi's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

3.5

I enjoy dark books but this was a bit much even for me at points. I flittered between being really engrossed and needing long breaks because I just wasn’t getting any pleasure at all from reading. Not necessarily a bad thing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic friendship, Gore, Child death, Violence, Abortion, Blood, and Medical trauma

katienunnery's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Blood, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Child abuse, Rape, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Violence, Death, Gore, Grief, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Death of parent

tristapruridge's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Cursing, Gore, Miscarriage, Rape, and Sexual violence

sakisreads's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Someone wrote ‘trauma dump’ in their review and honestly I felt that 😂 

Most of the time, I was cross with Joan and her lack of accountability or lack of energy for well, anything? She just felt so blasé and it was frustrating to read, although I think that’s the whole point of her character.
I also get why she would’ve felt the need to try and justify every single one of her actions though…

This one definitely needs content warnings which I’ll include below.

Only 2 out of 5 stars for me this time unfortunately 😫 It was hard to put down at times but also hard to get through, because nobody was in a good place and it felt like there was a need to glamourise that 🥲

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Infertility, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, and Miscarriage

boywithtoothache's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Vomit, Grief, Gun violence, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Violence, Child death, Domestic abuse, Dementia, Gore, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Rape, Self harm, and Toxic relationship