Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson

23 reviews

augustinedreams's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I highly recommend reading this book. It is a fantastic take on the classic Carrie but with a modern day twist that comments on modern racism. Take your time with this book it has so much to give and all of it is brutally honest.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Police brutality, Domestic abuse, Gore, Murder, Racial slurs, Violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, and Hate crime

Moderate: Sexism, Misogyny, Gun violence, Cursing, and Alcohol

greasertrashh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

The Weight of Blood is a stunning retelling of Carrie told from the lens of racism in America. The author did a beautiful job weaving these elements together and making it into something unique and thought-provoking. 
The addition of racial tension and generational trauma in a tale that many readers are at least partially familiar with allows the reader to immerse themselves further into the commentary of the novel and creates a more powerful statement which was only enhanced by the “podcast” episodes discussing the incident between chapters. 

I rated this a 4.75 out of 5 because, unfortunately, I was hoping for a bit more from the ending. The plot ends in a great place, but somehow felt a bit rushed. May update to a 5 star rating as I revisit the novel. 

The audiobook version of this was incredible, featuring a multi-narrator cast, sound effects, etc. Highly recommend both print and audiobook formats.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Body horror, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Blood, Gore, Grief, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Classism, and Racism

caseymac's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Classism, Blood, Racism, Death, Cultural appropriation, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Hate crime, Gore, Vomit, Gaslighting, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Body horror

Moderate: Racial slurs, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship

bites_of_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

This was a fantastic book that delves into social horror. This is really about what fear can do to people who feel like things are getting out of their control. We follow Maddie, a young girl who passes as white and is suddenly found out to be Black. This starts a series of events that start with Maddie finding out she has the power to move things with her mind and end with a tragic prom night to top it all, many years later, a true crime podcast that's trying to find out what "really happened" that night. 

The supernatural aspect of this book was done so well, it doesn't overpower our main character and also gives us a lot of intrigue as to what really is happening with her powers. This has been described as a Carrie retelling and I feel like it keeps the spirit of Carrie while Jackson gives it her own twists and style. 

I listened to the audiobook, which was awesome because it has a whole production with almost a full cast, and really helped immerse me in the story. 

This is a very difficult book to read because there is a lot of outright racism, bigotry, mysoginy, etc etc. Do take care when reading, check for all content warnings! 

I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys horror that focuses more on the horror that humans are capable of and also if you want characters who are multidimensional and who go beyond what you expect from them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Gore, Body horror, Bullying, Grief, Gun violence, Blood, Murder, Child abuse, Classism, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Sexism, Toxic friendship, and Violence

mwass's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

Once again I’m blown away by the production value of another YA audiobook!! The story itself so so good! It was heart wrenching and horrific in more ways than one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Violence, Gore, Racism, Police brutality, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Body horror

petit_lecteur's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Body horror, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Police brutality, Violence, Vomit, and Blood

drmccoy's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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

5.0

This Carrie retelling hits all the horror of the original but with a much greater depth. The character development is great. The ending is some what open ended but there’s enough guidance to give you a good idea of what probably happened. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Racial slurs

mamawantsbooks's review

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Police brutality, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Body horror, Bullying, Gun violence, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Blood

Moderate: Animal death and Vomit

yellow_ylugbug's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Gore, Child death, Bullying, Blood, Body horror, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Police brutality, and Toxic relationship

mollyolloxenfree25's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Child abuse, Child death, Violence, and Body horror