Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird by Agustina Bazterrica

10 reviews

femmeprints's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

I loved this short story book. Adiobooking this type of book can be hard because everything is just so fast paced but I really liked it. Most of the stories were deeply dark, mysterious, grotesque, obscure, and horror based. Really good for those who are into those types of stories. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Torture, Death, Abortion, Cannibalism, Blood, Animal cruelty, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

bookworm_haley's review

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Abortion, Self harm, and Gore

kjlewis494's review

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Gore, Body horror, Death, Blood, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Grief, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Stalking

bonnie3088's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

This book is magical and raw. It is gruesome in subtle and overt ways, disturbing in the artisti  ways. It is a book that focuses on the horror of being a woman, the innocence of being a child, and the weight of being a parent. 
I think the writing is amazing and challenges what we know. The imagery is remarkable and the scenes she writes makes me shutter even rethinking them.
There is a variety of stories encased in this short work that I think would appeal to a variety of ppl. I think there are works in here that don't need a lot of critical thinking to understand the overall message and there are some that you would need to take a step back from and really take in all that has been given. 

All in all this book will stay in my mind for a long time and deserves more attention. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicide, and Gore

Moderate: Mental illness, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Murder, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, and Sexual violence

Minor: War, Child abuse, and Child death

hannahsfictionlibrary's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective relaxing tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Death, Excrement, Gore, Kidnapping, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, and Violence

mermaidsherbet's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual violence, Death, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Rape, Medical content, Vomit, Sexism, Pedophilia, Murder, Sexual harassment, Violence, Suicide, Sexual content, Self harm, Mental illness, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Gun violence, Gore, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Incest, Grief, Stalking, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, and Abandonment

itsheyfay's review

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death of parent, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Animal death, and Death

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Incest, Child abuse, and Child death

Minor: Abortion, Rape, and Sexual assault

lovelylilelle's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Violence, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Blood, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Suicide, and Confinement

abbie_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

3.5

Thanks to Netgalley & Pushkin Press for my e-arc!

Agustina Bazterrica burst into the English-speaking literary world in 2020 with the disturbing Tender Is the Flesh, a book I loved, and her second offering in translation is a morbid collection of short stories. Nineteen Claws and a Blackbird all, more or less, focus around themes of death and dying, and I won’t lie it can weigh heavily on the reader at times!

There are some reprieves in the almost flash fiction-like stories - punchy little morsels like Roberto (a young girl finds a rabbit growing between her legs) and The Continuous Equality of the Circumference (a woman strives for her ultimate goal - to become a perfect circle) that you read in about two minutes but think about for the next hour. The rest of the stories are all also quite short (none longer than 20 pages and most around 10), so you do feel like you’re flying through it. There were a few stories that just went right over my head - the language here is quite different to Tender is the Flesh (brutal in its sparseness), with more flowery prose that meant some stories felt more like style over substance. (As a side note, Sarah Moses has translated both and I’d love to hear her thoughts on the differences between the texts!)

However, there are some heavy hitters that I loved and that truly unsettled me: The Solitary Ones, which will make you never want to ride an underground train again; Teicher Vs Nietzsche, a darkly funny stand-off between a man and his ex’s cat; and Mary Carminum, where a group of women hide something more sinister behind gaudy costume jewellery. I also loved the vibe of Elena-Marie Sandoz, which completely caught me off-guard by the end.

Overall, a solid collection which is a must-read for those of you who enjoy your short fiction on the darker side!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Suicide, Death, Blood, and Violence

alexandra_kat's review

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Gore, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Abortion, Animal cruelty, Blood, and Confinement