Reviews with content warning for Gore - Gorgeous Gruesome Faces

Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Gorgeous Gruesome Faces by Linda Cheng

27 reviews

auteaandtales's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I absolutely loved this, it was so much fun. A little eerie. I love a cult horror. It was entertaining, but it also had some conversation about misogyny, beauty standards and the K-pop industry.

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lexcellent's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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aliciagrasby's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

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betweentheshelves's review

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I thought this was just a thriller, but it turns out it takes a turn more into the horror genre. Which isn't a bad thing! But by the end of the book, things get...interesting. I'll read horror, but most of the time I'm not a huge fan of it. And this one gets a bit graphic in parts as the horror amps up by the end of the book.

However, I did appreciate the critiques on the K-Pop/entertainment industry and the expectations that are thrown on teen girls in particular. Sunny struggles with the expectations, especially coming from her mom. It's definitely something that negatively affects her mental health as well. Using the horror genre to explore those sorts of topics definitely works in this case.

If you like darker horror/thriller books, this might definitely be for you! It does wrap up at the end, but there's space left for a sequel (which I guess is happening eventually). We'll see if I read the next one!

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amy_salieri's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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nbreezy17's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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olivesandashes's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Before, Sunny Lee was a member of the popular teen group Sweet Cadence, along with her best friends Candie and Mina. But that quickly fell apart after a scandal and the death of Mina. Several years later, Sunny can't stop thinking about the cause of Mina's death. When she discovers Candie is taking part in a K-pop workshop in her own hometown, Sunny seizes the opportunity to finally get some answers. What she finds instead is a blur between reality and nightmares, terror-inducing visions, her competitors being injured in bizarre incidents, and a growing mystery she needs to solve if she wants to stay alive.

this is a sapphic thriller inspired by the k-pop industry, but k-pop actually doesn't play as big of a role as i expected. it's very unlike any other k-pop-inspired story that i've read (in a good way!). the story was immediately chilling and mysterious, and i didn't expect to be drawn in so quickly! it alternates between the past and present, which i enjoyed. there is some romance (and a lot of tension) but it isn't the focus

thank you to BookishFirst and Roaring Brook Press for the copy of this book!

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