Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Wie die Schweine by Agustina Bazterrica

547 reviews

fausticontrelibros's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Gore, Rape, Genocide, Slavery, Medical content, Animal death, Torture, Sexual content, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Blood, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, Excrement, and Child death

sierrabowers's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I thought this was a very interesting take on dystopian America. I would not recommend to anyone who is sensitive to gore or horror. I was not surprised by the ending, but I think that the author’s slow and gradual character degradation was done very well. The main character slowly descends into madness, and you can truly see it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Animal cruelty, Dementia, Medical content, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Child death, Gun violence, Car accident, Confinement, Cursing, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Abandonment, Animal death, Classism, Grief, Sexual violence, Violence, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Sexism, Cannibalism, Death, Torture, Trafficking, and Vomit

lauriebird's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book had me. This book grabbed me by its claws, dragged me down, and forced me to come face to face with one of the most bleak books ever written.

Make no mistake, this book is a horror. But it is also a masterpiece of literature. This book is brutal from beginning to end. This book made me feel gross. This book made me reflect on the classism of politics (specifically in the United States). The book stresses that 

this is a government plot to ensure population control, not a true virus

. I did not like this book but not because of Bazterricas fantastic execution. I did not like it because we are not meant to like it. It is written flatly in a clear voice of Marcos. Marcos is nihilistic and each description of everything that he goes through, right down to the colors of his world, echos that nihilism.

The last line of this book shattered me.

“She had the human gaze of a domesticated animal.” She was just an animal to him. A means to an end. Marcos, a character that we are meant to see as “on the readers side” ends up being as amoral as the rest. You cannot live a moral life in a society devoid of morality. As you read the last line, you realize that Marcos saw Jasmine the same as his dogs. The way he talks to and cares for her is still that of an animal. Yes, he sexually assaulted her for his own gain, but he still sees her only as a means to an end. The book sets this up for us to believe Marcos may overcome the societal pressures and challenges and realize that the head are in fact, also human and deserve to be treated as human. The last chapter tears every bit of that hope from you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Infidelity, Animal cruelty, Death, Infertility, Genocide, Gore, Murder, Body horror, Child death, and Animal death

Moderate: Rape, Pandemic/Epidemic, Misogyny, Violence, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence

cara_anne's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Blood, Cannibalism, Gore, Pregnancy, and Violence

hawkbloc's review against another edition

This book is just gross for the sake of gross.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Child abuse, Murder, Torture, Sexual violence, Dementia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Body horror, Child death, Excrement, Sexual content, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Domestic abuse, Blood, Suicide, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, and Misogyny

vinise's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Trafficking, Violence, Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Pandemic/Epidemic, Slavery, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Genocide, Sexual assault, Body horror, Hate crime, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, and Torture

ashlynregan's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

LOVED the ending to this book, even though it was a complete reversal of the character arc.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Infertility, Gore, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Trafficking, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Death, Rape, Animal death, Child death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Cannibalism, Body horror, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Death of parent

csmoke85's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, Cannibalism, and Death

Moderate: Animal cruelty

Minor: Grief and Death of parent

moonwillow27458's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Sexual content, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, and Trafficking

parkerluck's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.75

I was rec'd this based off of how much I like Oryx and Crake and it was indeed in line! Good writing, I didn't feel like the violence or content was "gratuitous" or shock over substance or whatever else. The subject matter is horrific so heed warnings, but it's explored well and I felt it was pretty in line with, again, O&C or other bleak dystopia stuff. Enjoyed the character work for the MC, the rest of the cast wasn't as fleshed out but didn't really need to be for such a quick read. 

The people saying the ending was a "twist" don't know how to read imo. The book does a good job of building Marcos, showing you who he is, who he thinks he is, how he fits into the world.

As far as unreliable narrators go, he's not even very unreliable and the story doesn't try to conceal what he's doing or capable of doing at any point. Combined with the Icarus thread he tells himself at the end (it doesn't matter if you fall, what matters is that for a moment you were a bird), it's a very basic set up and execution of him as a character. Frustrating to see other people have so much trouble with the dissonance between the actual narrative and the narrative Marcos himself constructs tbh but what can you do. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Infertility, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Child death, Misogyny, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Violence

Moderate: Torture, Rape, and Gore