dromedaryreader's reviews
28 reviews

Jem by Frederik Pohl

adventurous medium-paced

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

4.0

Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite

challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.0

Pearl by Josh Malerman

adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

Not a huge fan of this one. It may just be my general dislike for books with teenage main characters. Randomly there seemed to be new information added with not much context. That being said, it was entertaining and I did enjoy it overall. Definitely not scary or particularly disturbing though.

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

dark inspiring 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

5.0

The first time I've personally said this, but I did like the movie better. At least the ending. But I love how Palahniuk writes and it will always hold a special place for me. I was definitely late to this party, this was my fourth Palahniuk book and the third time he's gotten me out of a reading slump.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Dementia