Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck

15 reviews

meh697's review against another edition

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

5.0

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surdiablo's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A great novella featuring a concept with tremendous potential, borrowed from The Library of Babel short story by Borges. The writing style is pretty straightforward and it's a far cry from Borges really, so the ideas are easy to grasp. I was hooked from the very beginning and couldn't put it down, regardless of its depressing nature. It's designed to make you wonder about insanity deriving from the infinite, which the author succeeds at very well. However, I gotta confess I am a bit underwhelmed as well, regardless of everything I have mentioned so far. It feels like the book could have been significantly better if it had an additional 30-50 pages, or was a 300-page novel even. Everything felt somewhat undercooked, which prevented me from fully experiencing the intended impact. Like I said before, it's a concept with a lot of potential, so the story could have used additional or different developments perhaps, fleshed out things further, etc. I would highly recommend it anyway because it's really memorable regardless of its shortcomings since the latter mainly originates from my own expectations.
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icebearg's review

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dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

In A Short Stay in Hell, The author creates a well thought-out and elaborate existential torture which leaves the reader truly feeling the hero's hopelessness in his exploration of Hell fashioned from the infamous Library of Babel. At first, the reader is presented with a harmless first impression of what is a Zoroastrian Hell as the hero indulges in luxuries and community outside of danger, contradicting the conventional Christian image of Hell. However, this was intentionally done to let the reader's guard down only to see as the story progresses, the hero slowly discovers the true tortures that lie within this Library of Babel.  Existential dread, poverty of sensation, the Sisyphean struggle against eternity, and a rude awakening on the fact that Hell is other people. 
It is a fascinating read which will make you question your meaning and purpose in the universe. 
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acnienow's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Thought provoking and probably my most annotated book ever! 
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novajhops's review

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dark sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

3/5
dang, that was sad. it felt like an episode of Black Mirror lol
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