Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Wie die Schweine by Agustina Bazterrica

575 reviews

a_paper_mess's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Infertility, Slavery, Torture, Dementia, Gore, Trafficking, Violence, Cannibalism, Child death, Excrement, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Rape, and Vomit

Moderate: Grief, Sexism, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Self harm

29000xxxx's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

4.0

THIS BOOK IS CRAZY 
the story describes atrocities almost nonchalantly. it unsettled me in that i recognise i was supposed to be horrified, but half the time i just felt somewhat numb. perhaps the nearly indifferent or resigned tone throughout the book just acted like a sedative. but it is a good book within the parameters of a dystopian story that it is.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Murder, Animal cruelty, Sexual violence, Infidelity, Cannibalism, Rape, and Grief

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

segagenesys's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

 This book was INTENSE! So gory! So many amazing visuals! I am an avid horror movie fanatic and man did this book compare. I enjoyed every part of this book, the crazy images, scene descriptions, characters. I had a good time reading it :) Highly recommend if you like the horror genre. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Cannibalism, Gore, Grief, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Sexual violence

mconroy9137's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Blood, Confinement, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Body horror, Death, Cannibalism, Gore, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Medical content, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Excrement, Death of parent, Dementia, Infertility, Infidelity, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Sexism

Minor: Antisemitism, Homophobia, Fatphobia, and Car accident

blulibrarian's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This is a dark, dark world we find within the pages; a world where animal meat is no longer an option, so people turn to eating humans instead. The madness of this social shift pierces deep, its bloody fingers snagging every conceivable part of society.

I have a lot of thoughts. I think that the raw horror of so many things in this world come and then pass you by just as quickly. It does a lot to inform the reader on the attitudes of people at large, and those even more specifically of the main character, but it means that there are many moments or beats where the book leaves the space immediately, not giving the reader a chance to fully absorb the grim reality even if the charscters on page are (intentionaññy or not) not cognizant of it. This is a story that snatches away what little scraps of hope you have. I enjoyed it a lot, but I wanted a little more space on the page to really let the reader chew things over, to not make it so easy for the resder to breeze over what the cast might be.

Ultimately: a stark, grim, merciless near future, and a story set within the space that I wanted to see a little more bite from.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Cannibalism, and Grief

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Violence, and Pregnancy

Minor: Death of parent, Child death, and Infertility

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

cryptidenthusiast's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

1.0

Outside of just being gross to be gross, this book really isn’t much beyond shock value. I can’t quite tell if there’s supposed to be a message about “human greed and lack of empathy” (which is a moot point considering actual studies done proving otherwise) or everything else that felt shoehorned in. 

Is it commentary about ‘meat=murder’? How quickly people are willing to change their morals and follow whatever laws are in place if it means their own life isn’t disrupted? We jump from the processing plants, to actual human experimentation and that’s just brushed over? It felt like the author was trying to make too many points in a 200 page book, which just hurt the overall plot. 

Marcos is an exhausting character to follow through the narrative. There’s NOTHING to him beyond being numb, emotionally detached, and contradictory. Despite being no better than the people around him, he carries himself with an air of being the smartest man in the room. 

The sudden sexual assault chapter also felt completely unnecessary, and did nothing to move the plot along or actually provide anything outside of more disdain for Marcos.

 

The ‘plot twist’ wasn’t really a shock, and the ending felt like it was just tacked on to leave you uncomfortable. 

As for the writing itself, it felt extremely chopping and disconnected. A lot of sentences just put together with no real flow. It looks like the book was originally in Spanish though, so this is more of a point against the English translation than the author. 

Not really something I’d recommend, and it was definitely overhyped online. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Death, Grief, Murder, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Child death, and Dementia

lillyturmel's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

Beautifully written, incredibly dark, and a story worth reading

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Grief, Rape, and Pedophilia

anissawren's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gore, Slavery, Physical abuse, Torture, Confinement, Animal death, Death, Child death, Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, Animal cruelty, Grief, Body horror, Murder, Sexual violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Trafficking, and Violence

Moderate: Infidelity, Pregnancy, Dementia, Miscarriage, Infertility, and Abortion

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, Pedophilia, and Racism