Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

28 reviews

petepilgrim's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

1.0

This has been on my radar for years, and finally  it up has been such a disappointment.

Perhaps it would have been shocking once, but the writing around the child murders is not strong enough to support the lack of characterisation or plot. 

A book like this shouldn't be boring, and my god it's a drag.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Child death, Murder, and Animal death

ab1gail_g's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Murder, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, Blood, Animal death, Death, and Gore

cartimandua's review against another edition

challenging dark tense 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Child death, Death, Violence, Misogyny, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

beitidh_flitcroft's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective tense 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

4.75

horrifically graphic in places, but utterly captivating. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Murder, Violence, Death, and Child abuse

kelsiepixler's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Child death, Murder, Sexism, Torture, Body shaming, Death, Body horror, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Child abuse

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Transphobia

louiepotterbook's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Animal death, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Dysphoria, Misogyny, Murder, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Mental illness, Medical content, Racism, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Honestly with all the warnings I listed it still doesn’t feel like enough

janiceo's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, and Child death

mistermistoffelees's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

2.75

kind of mid. to be fair i knew i guess the last big twist but nothing going on was particularly interesting to me. brother erics russian sleep experiment slay… does daddy make that brown rice and algae testosterone to share? Yum yum

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Child abuse, and Forced institutionalization

charlizardbookboi17's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad 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

Very well written and engaging. Was a quick read. Very dark and violent. Rough in most spots but couldn't walk away without finishing it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Gore, Grief, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

shysheepys's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.25

Read for a challenge, found on Book-tok. Don't think I'd ever pick this one up ever again, nor do I want to think on it ever again. I do think the overall theme was intersting, and it reads from an interesting, unreliable narrator, which is one of my favorite book types. Spoiler ahead:

A lof of people seem to hate that Frank turned out to be trans. I don't think that is the problem with this book. the gross over use of animal abuse is really the biggest turn-off for me. Overall, realizing that Frank was done wrong by the only person he ever trusted or seemed to love in his life was the hardest part of all. I think the part with Frank assuming that his dad was trans was a really intersting thought to consider, and the reveal of Frank being AFAB as an "expieriment" is equally frustrating but horrifying, and isn't that part of being a horror novel?

Definately made me sad, but I wouldn't reccomend this to anyone nor share that I had read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, and Sexism

Moderate: Transphobia, Dysphoria, and Blood

Minor: Suicide and War