Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

8 reviews

norwegianforestreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

bearystarry's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad 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

2.75

I didn't realize this was half I Am Legend and half short stories when I bought it. I Am Legend was way too bleak for me. Some of the short stories had really interesting premises but weak execution, or I would have liked to be expanded. My favourite part of the whole book was The Funeral;

just a fun little monster story!

I thought it was cute, tbh.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, Torture, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, and Car accident

Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

sassmistress's review

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Very much not my usual speed, but I see why it's genre-defining. It must be a *really* early take on zombie apocalypse literature. It's a solid mix of psychological horror and zombie thriller, with a dash of that classic sci-fi introspection. Extremely gripping, at points, like The Walking Dead (sorry to relate it to something newer!) Choc-full of content concerns, though, so I can't rate it any higher. But I really enjoyed the read and want one for my classics shelf. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Violence, Grief, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Drug use, Rape, Self harm, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

- Very graphic depiction of alcoholism and heavy alcohol use, from the mind of the user. We're constantly watching strong drinks spill, smell, burn going down, numb emotion, etc.
- POV is regularly on the verge of a mental breakdown.
- Memories of his wife wasting away and dying, then having to dispose of her body. The grief is graphic. His child dies, too, though this is less prominent.
- Dog content:

He feeds the feral/traumatized dog and slowly befriends it. During this process, the dog is infected. He brings the dog inside, hoping to cure it before it passes, and it panics extensively. He calms it down, the dog licks him, he cries, and then says the dog died a week later.

- He is an atheist, but prays twice out of desperation. Religion is otherwise depicted as frenzied madness.
- Lots of lustful gaze and objectification. This is viewed as the inevitable result of a man's "deprivation" / isolation. One passionate embrace/kiss.
- Blood, obviously, and some violent "vampire" deaths, but most of it is kept at a moderate emotional distance. Most deaths are the MC bleeding out the sleeping "vampires", not described too graphically, but a few are more violent.
- Brief mention of rape, and a few suicidal thoughts.

oddreads_nicolestins's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Sexual content, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and War

katrinarose's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense fast-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

4.0

For such a short book it sure packs a punch. I loved the ending and the grim reality that we see of Neville’s life. Despite the monotony of most of his days, this book flew by for me. And even now after seeing hundreds of versions of a vampire and/or pandemic story, I still find this one original and compelling. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Medical content, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Child death and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual content

mconroy9137's review against another edition

dark tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Kidnapping, Grief, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Vomit, and Medical content

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

cnohero's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Not really comparable to the movie. This actually may be a case in which I prefer the movie. 

<Spoiler>Pros: 
This was really well written and gripping. I read well past my bedtime.
 I'm impressed by it's scientific discussion especially for it's time (1960's). 
Excellent world-building and just enough horror for my taste but not too much.
 This book did bring me to the edge of tear and could be very moving in some parts

Cons:
I did not like the main character. Maybe he supposed to be unlikeable? 
I hated the way the author discussed lust and sex.  I really have a hard time with the discussion that the main character was so sexually deprived he was tempted to have sex with the living dead. 
Overall I was not comfortable with the discussion of women they are not treated well or regarded well through the book.  There was too much emphasis on women's bodies and sex. </Spoiler>

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Grief, and Alcohol