Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang

24 reviews

charmgirl3's review

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

One of the best and most disturbing horror books I've read in a while. The graphic nature of some scenes, combined with the realistic nature of the beauty world and where it's headed made for an interesting reading experience. Not for the faint of heart or those who dislike body modification.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Body horror, Cannibalism, Car accident, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Grief, Drug use, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Sexual content

arayo's review

dark funny 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Rape, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Vomit, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Racism, Gore, and Bullying

Minor: Cannibalism, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

rainbowarpaint's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Torture, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Body horror, Mental illness, Rape, and Racism

Moderate: Cannibalism

renicula's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

I liked this. Disturbing in a way that cuts close to the quick. I did find the way the plot jumps and does a bit of telling-not-showing over long periods of the narrator’s employment jarring, even if it is a deliberate choice to convey her detachment. I didn’t mind that the main character is largely not a very active protagonist - it makes sense for the paralysis of grief she’s continually held in - but some of the events that step in to move the plot along are a bit… pat (at one point, critical information is revealed literally by a wayward cat jumping on a computer keyboard). That being said, it’s a quick read and viscerally fascinating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Body horror

Moderate: Racism, Violence, Vomit, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Misogyny, Sexual content, Murder, and Sexual violence

Minor: Trafficking, Pregnancy, and Cannibalism

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Medical content, Gore, Death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Body shaming, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death of parent, Eating disorder, Drug use, Pregnancy, Grief, Violence, Cultural appropriation, Misogyny, Racism, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Blood, Vomit, and Sexism

Minor: Animal death, Car accident, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Alcohol, Cannibalism, and Child abuse

Various levels of questionable/lack of consent, including outside of a solely sexual context. General exploitation and manipulation. Lots of themes around beauty standards and "healthy" lifestyles, including unhealthy levels of adherence thereto.

mlewis's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Body horror, Sexual violence, Fatphobia, and Sexual content

Moderate: Classism, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Grief, Medical content, Misogyny, Drug use, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, and Death of parent

Minor: Domestic abuse, Infertility, Pedophilia, Bullying, Alcohol, Miscarriage, and Vomit

livlamentloathe's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Listened to most of this yesterday then finished while coloring moths in a meditation coloring book I own. It felt ironic to read the ending while choosing colors to create art.

This was a grotesque dissection of beauty, marginalization, and the dangers of the male gaze. It was more than that too, I can’t exactly summarize this book into a sentence. The ending felt akin to Carrie Narby’s “Indescribable,” in It Came From the Closet. The nonexistence of beauty, of perception, grants a form of freedom. There is a queerness to ugliness.

Natural Beauty captured the dangers of beauty well. It spoke to the “feminism” of beauty and the cage that surrounds conformity. Reading this was an experience I can’t truly describe in words. But I enjoyed this a great deal. Another example of how the greatest horror stems from reality.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Death, Dysphoria, Excrement, Fatphobia, Grief, Medical content, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Body horror, Classism, Confinement, Gore, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, and Stalking

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Vomit, Terminal illness, and Sexual violence

Minor: Animal death, Cannibalism, Murder, Vomit, and Excrement

growplantsreadbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

A brutal critique of the uber-wealthy's disturbing quest for eternal youth told by the people they have cultivated to step on along the way. The author deftly creates a thoroughly researched near-future that peels away the layers of the beauty industry. This book covers so much (prodigy culture, grooming, SA, bullying, Beauty & esthetics, sex trafficking, racism, body modification, scientific ethics, wealth & class, and, and, and...), but somehow it never felt ham-fisted. 
The writing is equally gorgeous and gross. The plot is fast paced and though the climax felt somewhat inevitable, the ending stayed true to the core message and I thought it was beautiful. 
I will think of this every time I take a supplement or try a new skin care product...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Sexual assault, Medical content, Vomit, Bullying, and Adult/minor relationship

clara_mai's review

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Rape, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Grief, Medical trauma, Xenophobia, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Cannibalism, Bullying, and Classism

jaiari12's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Animal death, Grief, Body horror, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Racism, Rape, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Gore, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence