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A review by erinbarton
Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
2.5
this was a bit of a disappointment for me for two main reasons:
firstly, the blurb describes an interesting premise which doesn’t actually take place in the book until the last 100 pages. throughout the first 150 pages of this novel the two main characters are separate. this meant the pacing felt so inconsistent since we had basically 150 pages of slow background leading up to them meeting, deciding to team up, and executing their kill together all within the last 100 pages.
secondly, the gore and violence felt purely for shock factor with no other deeper purpose / meaning. the book talks a lot about the HIV epidemic of the 80s and 90s but this just felt like a secondary plot point with no real connection to the main murder storyline. as a reader very much desensitised to gore/violence the shock factor just didn’t land and i found myself quite bored throughout most of this. this could be influenced by my recently reading notes on an execution which also heavily features a serial killer but is a much deeper exploration of redemption and nature vs nurture, but exquisite bodies just felt so empty in comparison
firstly, the blurb describes an interesting premise which doesn’t actually take place in the book until the last 100 pages. throughout the first 150 pages of this novel the two main characters are separate. this meant the pacing felt so inconsistent since we had basically 150 pages of slow background leading up to them meeting, deciding to team up, and executing their kill together all within the last 100 pages.
secondly, the gore and violence felt purely for shock factor with no other deeper purpose / meaning. the book talks a lot about the HIV epidemic of the 80s and 90s but this just felt like a secondary plot point with no real connection to the main murder storyline. as a reader very much desensitised to gore/violence the shock factor just didn’t land and i found myself quite bored throughout most of this. this could be influenced by my recently reading notes on an execution which also heavily features a serial killer but is a much deeper exploration of redemption and nature vs nurture, but exquisite bodies just felt so empty in comparison
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Terminal illness, Murder, Violence, and Cannibalism