Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk

9 reviews

batbaby's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I devoured the first half of this book in one sitting with thunderstorm sounds and gothic classical music in the background and it really matched the vibe.We follow a vampire for a few decades and watch how the city of Buenos Ares grows and changes in that time. I loved how dark the story felt and anytime you might be foolish enough to think the vampire had changed and maybe had a bit of humanity she’d prove to you the monster she was. There’s a point where the vampire doesn’t know how much time has passed and the chapter doesn’t have a number, I thought that was really clever.

The second half was a little harder for me to get into at first but I still really enjoyed it. We follow a main character who is continually grieving as her mother slowly succumbs to a degenerative disease. She becomes obsessed with things and ideas maybe in a way to distract herself from what’s really going on. She spends a long time considering and worrying about a Pandora’s box that her mother tells her not to open and her need to rebel against that. My only complaint is I that I wish the ending wasn’t so opened ended and we got a tiny bit more maybe even a page.

I just don’t understand how she could abandon Santiago like that when the majority of the book we see how infatuated she is with him.

This book looks at the complexities of identity and humanity when facing death and grief.

#ad I received this book for free as an arc but the opinions are entirely my own.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

rheagoveas's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, and Blood

readingpicnic's review against another edition

3.75

Erotic, but also deeply sad. The dreary, crumbling cemetery setting of most of the novel works so well towards creating a bleak atmosphere. This book wasn't the sapphic romance I initially thought it would be. It centers more on persecution and murder in an ever-changing and unfamiliar world in the vampire's case, and being a single mom and drifting away from everyone while grieving her ever-ailing elderly mother in Alma's case. I do think I preferred the vampire's chapters over the latter half of the book and found them more interesting; Alma's chapters dragged for me at times and it didn't feel like much was happening.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Abandonment and Sexual harassment

dfrancis's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

I was excited by the concept of this book. And I did enjoy it. But it left me wanting more, and not in a good way. I feel like there needed to be more of a build up to the ending and a bit more mingling of the two POVs. It’s a translated book, and I feel like at moments it felt a little stilted and I can’t tell if that’s the author’s writing or the translation. Overall, enjoyed but expected/hoped for more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Gore, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

kathleencoughlin's review

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Confinement, Stalking, and Suicide attempt

amandall's review against another edition

Graphic, violate death

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder

salemander's review

5.0

SUCH an interesting book wow. i wasn’t expecting such a deep look into the grief of having a sick parent and the ways you watch this person you’ve known so well all your life slowly disappear. alongside this intense look into terminal illness, you also have this incredible and unique look into immortality and the way trauma causes you to slowly lose your humanity. also sexy vampire lady killing people slays

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Rape, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

junejunejulyjuly's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

bloomed's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

a good, quick read (i got through it in one sitting) with lots of pretty words and a really nice handle on the topic of grief. i just wish it was longer! i could’ve read another two or three hundred pages of this and been so, so happy for it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Medical trauma