dromedaryreader's reviews
24 reviews

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson

challenging dark informative medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Police brutality, Genocide, Ableism, Antisemitism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, and Gun violence

Moderate: Sexual violence, Torture, War, Misogyny, Suicide, and Miscarriage

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Not My Father's Son by Alan Cumming

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Cancer, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Car accident

Enter the Aardvark by Jessica Anthony

emotional funny 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Abortion

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I loved some of the stories in this book. Others seemed lazy and were too caught up in small details to work as a short story. Eight Bites, Mothers, Difficult At Parties, and The Husband Stitch were my personal favorites. Inventory and The Resident were alright. I was not a fan of Real Women Have Bodies or Especially Heinous.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Grief, Gore, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Misogyny, Outing, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Medical content, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Suicide

The Deep by Nick Cutter

adventurous challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book, even though I have some issues with the plot. Many things that are brought up such as

the fig men

and the 'gets aren't really carried much throughout the story and I feel like I would forget about those parts until they were thrown back in.

That being said, I still very much liked this book. The amount of background given on the main character alone made it worth the read, and I do love how so much of the things casually mentioned about his childhood are circled back to and become bigger, more important things.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Grief, Incest, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Violence, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Dementia, Medical content, Mental illness, Pedophilia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Sexual content and Torture

Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

dark medium-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

Wow, this was not well written at all. The plot jumped around, there were tons of things that were completely improbable. The dialogue was fanfiction level writing. Just not good. Why is this book so highly recommended?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Confinement, Death of parent, Medical content, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Classism, Death, Genocide, Medical trauma, Rape, Infertility, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Dementia, Drug use, and Drug abuse

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

challenging dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I really loved this book. My favorite of the year so far. The dialogue is great and the story flows very well. Wasn't a fan of the blog post style writing in a few chapters or else it would be 5 stars. Overall so good and I love that the ending is so open to interpretation that most people disagree about who is really the one at fault. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Violence, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Excrement, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Blood, Child death, Cursing, Gore, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, Murder, and Physical abuse

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk

dark funny reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Too slow of a read. The short stories are mostly good but the rest of the chapters are very hit or miss.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Body horror, Cannibalism, Mental illness, and Murder

There is a very violent and transphobic story in the book about a woman's group attacking a trans woman. There is also a story that kind of involves child sexual abuse but not really. Could still be very triggering. Just assume most of the stories in this book will be triggering or bother someone with a sensitive stomach.

The Troop by Nick Cutter

adventurous dark sad tense medium-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

4.5

I loved this book. Before I even finished it I drove to the nearest bookstore to purchase another book by the same author. The glimpses into the minds of the boys are what really make it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Confinement, Animal death, Body horror, Medical trauma, Medical content, Murder, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Torture, and Body shaming

Minor: Sexual harassment

Parasitic infections that lead to physical and mental illness and

a kid who kills animals for fun

Woom by Duncan Ralston

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

3.75

I really enjoy how creative this idea is, even when it's kind of gross. I was able to finish it in one sitting and it's definitely not boring. The end was a shock for sure and I can certainly say I haven't seen anything like it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Body horror, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Excrement, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Fatphobia

Minor: Racial slurs