Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw

174 reviews

chelbelle122's review against another edition

dark sad fast-paced

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

2.0

Incredibly lyrical...but not much of a plot to care about. Novellas can suck you in as much as a 400 page book when done well, but sadly, this wasn't it for me. I wanted my first read of spooky season to be a good ghost story, alas, I am disappointed. 

Premise was off to a good start...but that's about it. No good plot twist, not enough tension and story building. Just a lot of angst and meh? 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

elysianbud's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

2.5

Underwhelming. Feels like it should have been shorter or much longer. Some good spooky moments though. Quick read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

lpltaylor's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Infidelity, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

rnbhargava's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

It’s brief, there’s messiness between the characters, once it really gets going it’s swift and horrific.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

It’s a horror book with messy histories between its characters. They go and mess with stuff they probably shouldn’t have messed with because they love going to haunted or supposedly haunted places. There is gruesome material as it plays out.

casparquarius's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I think Cassandra Khaw is one of my favorite contemporary horror writers, between this and Salt Grows Heavy. Khaw's way with language is just so beautiful and memorable, and this story tense and interesting. really enjoyed this

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder

ewwa18's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Body horror and Blood

Minor: Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

bigsleepie's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

2.0

Started off with such promise, but unraveled fairly quickly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, and Vomit

carlyoc's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

A very self-aware horror novella. A group of 20-somethings who used to explore haunted houses get together for one last hurrah at a crepy Japanese mansion. 
Cat's friends don't quite know how to treat her after she spent some time in psychiatric care for depression but her best friend Faiz wanted her to be at his wedding. He is marrying Talia, who always dreamed of getting married in a haunted house. So their friend Philip rented out a Heian manor house and volunteered to be their priest. But trying to hold a nontraditional yet happy wedding is tempting fate in a building where a young bride was once buried alive to forever wait her husband who was never to arrive. 
The writing was very poetic and i liked the imagery of all the mythic Japanese monsters, but I felt like there could have been more suspense in a longer-foem story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Murder

bskalka's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

3.0

This book was just ok. I liked the death that happened but not much else. The relationships were confusing. I didn't understand the ghosts at all. It was also hard to envision because the setting was described so poorly I genuinely didn't know where in the house they were at times. The ritual didn't seem well thought out either. But the number one problem I have with this book is it wasn't scary. The characters barely reacted to the spirits making them not scary at all and almost forgotten. When the spirits are the main point of your book, you can't make your characters act like they aren't there.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Torture, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

moxiereads's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail