A review by thereadingrambler
Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite

dark fast-paced

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

5.0

This is what I want all horror to be. On the surface level, this book is just gruesome and graphic and appeals to some kind of shock value, but there is so much value and depth to this book if you’re willing to embrace the darkness. There are four point-of-view characters: Andrew Compton, our only first-person POV, a convicted serial killer; Jay, a wealthy single gay man in New Orleans; Tran, a young non-binary (?) Vietnamese man who is Jay’s drug dealer and also the object of his obsession, and Luke, Tran’s ex-boyfriend. These four men’s lives intersect in primarily violent ways both because a serial killer is one of our main characters and also because this story is set during the AIDS crisis in the UK and US. Death and sex are close intertwined in this book just as they were during the AIDS crisis; forcing the reader to sit in the discomfort and disgust of the violent things in this book also forces us to confront the trauma, fear, and violence of this era when any act of sex, any act of love, could directly lead to your death. I don’t want to say much more about the plot because the twists of this book are not necessarily unpredictable, but going on that journey step by grueling step *is* the reading experience. I was stunned by this book, and it will stick with me for a very long time.