Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

9 reviews

leiaslizzy's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Medical content, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Death

Moderate: Misogyny

This book is utterly insane from start to finish.

moonmoonsun's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Child death, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, and Dysphoria

animal deaths and torture: dogs, rabbits, mice, sheep wasps

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

catell's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Grief, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Animal cruelty, Murder, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Torture

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

lottieingham's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.25

‘Sometimes the thoughts and feelings I had didn't really agree with each other, so I decided I must be lots of different people inside my brain.’ 🐝

The Wasp Factory is an unsettling tale of a young psychopath: the thoughts, rituals and beliefs of the young Frank amid his unconventional upbringing. 

This novel is a hard-hitter of the horror genre and not for the faint of heart. It doesn’t shy away from the taboos of

animal torture, deaths of children or the devastating effects of human curiosity gone too far

. 

The writing of the intriguing yet grossly deranged protagonist forces the reader to distance themselves from any empathy on his part…until other figures appear bewilderingly worse. 

What Banks achieves so well is this juxtaposition of the innocence of teenage angst and naivety alongside the nauseating depictions of Frank’s sadistic hobbies. The dark humour and self-deprecating thoughts and insecurities of the young protagonist paradoxically keep the story optimistic, despite some of the most grotesque descriptions I’ve encountered within the genre. 

Whilst some claim this novel should be banned due to its raw and unashamedly twisted depictions of violence, I think it is a welcome addition to the horror genre and one that sends chills down the spine without the need to resort to any supernatural or outer-world monstrosities.

Banks’s horror comes from humankind and how traumatic experience can blur the line between right and wrong. By the end, even the reader finds themselves guilty for feeling empathetic towards a delusional psychopath. 🔪

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Racial slurs, Animal death, Blood, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Child abuse, Death, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Ableism, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, and Toxic friendship

lizslazylibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-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

4.25

i have so many thoughts but none it’s like to share publicly 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Mental illness, Medical content, and Violence

abithereader's review against another edition

dark 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death of parent, Misogyny, Violence, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Medical content, Blood, Gore, and Medical trauma

sarah984's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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

I know that a lot of people found the deaths in this book disturbing, but everything in the book was so whimsical and divorced from reality that it really had no effect on me at all. Extreme misogyny and weird transphobia but that's not surprising in a serial killer story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Torture, Transphobia, and Mental illness

Moderate: Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Rape and Suicide