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grizelybear's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I'm rating this a 3.5 because this was not an enjoyable book, but in terms of what it wanted to achieve, which was apparently to take us into the mind of a fucked up degenerate, it definitely succeeded in all fronts. This was an uncanny (and disturbing) character study, and for that, I do salute the author.
Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Sexual assault
gavinsko's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Rape, Torture, and Murder
gryd's review against another edition
3.0
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment
chuckyinspace's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Hate crime, Misogyny, Slavery, and Xenophobia
lay1onme's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
magepersephone's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, and Murder
cinderrunner's review
- 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
The only reason it isn't 5☆ is that the flow and pacing does feel really confusing when you start and that makes it hard to get into the real flow things and understand the plot. I also take issue with the author choosing to make her sadistic and extremel sexually driven (and perverted) serial killer a gay man (when the stereotype has always been that they are predators). Especially given that this novel was written/published on close to the end of the aids epidemic when gay men were being treated even more vilified than normal. Even if Oates did not intentionally mean to create such a dangerous stereotype I cannot believe that she wasn't at least subconsciously biased by homophobia when writing.
Definitely worth checking trigger warnings.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Murder
chibichaostan's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
Graphic: Gore, Pedophilia, Violence, Medical content, and Stalking
Moderate: Rape and Sexual violence
rachelunabridged's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
gringolet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail