Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis

4 reviews

nomonbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

This was well written, I just didn't like it. I didn't enjoy the gore and the tone or the people. I wanted to keep reading and that's pretty significant given what I didn't enjoy but also I'm so so glad I finally finished it. People who like thrillers may like this.

Also in regards to what happened (spoilers for ending)

I am like 100% sure in my mind at least that the trawler were the adult cult members and this was a story about a bunch of messed up kids left to their own devices too much, not cared for and adultified resulting in horrible conclusions. Everyone (of the children) was a victim here. The violent crime we see on page committed by a child is Brett murdering Robert. And that was a huge failure of every adult involved that let it get to that point. (And I know he's old enough to take responsibility for that somewhat but as with any crime in the real world committed by a 16 year old thecl context is so so important - and I know Robert has been accused of sexual abuse and I'm not absolving him from that responsibility but acknowledging that he was a victim here too from his father, and from the cult).

I don't think Brett attacked Susan and Thom, as it seems a bit random and out of character for him and it's more a further example of how things can are and will spiral in absence of I don't know, adult responsibility and supervision and putting it all on kids. The paranoia that seeped into their relationships and lack of trust for eachother and I think in the world generally to look after them.

They consistently had absent parents, drug addict parents, parents who are perpetrators of sexual abuse, alcoholic parents. The level of neglect is overwhelming, the absence of modeling of healthy interactions and relationships. The total lack of guidance from any adult in my opinion is what got them to where they ended up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

frekdal's review

challenging mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

booklinensinker's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This is a very dark and disturbing novel. I loved it. I am a thriller lover but I also really enjoy books with characters that I love to hate. I read and listened in tandem and the narration was done by the author and it was perfect! This knocked my socks off. My only issue was that there really was no solid resolution, but it didn't really matter because the novel was more about the characters and the setting and the lifestyle that was being portrayed. Others have complained about the superficial aspects of the novel, however this is exactly the way these characters were meant to be seen and understood. I loved the depravity of it all!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Dysphoria, and Classism

valeriekate's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism