Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Devolution by Max Brooks

28 reviews

laurenmiller100's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

3.75

This is a brutal book. I really enjoyed this story, and the characters and their arcs are fascinating. The way the town devolves as they try to fight off the creatures is horrifying. Moreover, some of the descriptions of violence or death had me wincing while listening.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Minor: War

andrewwhiteau's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Blood

thecrimsoncorsair's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I will give it up to Max Brooks. He did write a story with the most unlikable characters imaginable. So unlikable that I was actively rooting for all of their deaths for a good chunk of the book, and managed to make some (SOME) of them into pretty enjoyable people by the end. Except Mostar, she was da real mvp from the start. I was so annoyed by these characters that I was going to quit the book at the beginning, but I'm glad I kept going, because this was a hell of a book. Not great. And has very strong, libs need to man up and embrace them their killing side vibes. Like there was an entire spiel about the neighborhood not having any guns and how that was just so awful of those weak willed libs 🤢 but I loved the tension, and the survival aspects. And the growth of the main character. And I wish he wouldn't have left the ending so open ended. I hate open ended endings. But overall, this was a fun read. Brutal. Not anywhere as good as World War Z. But entertaining in its own way. I would say my only other issue that kinda squicked me out was the way he characterized the lesbian couple. I don't know I didn't like how he portrayed them in the beginning, and ofc one of them was domineering, controlling and seemingly abusive of her wife. It just really rubbed me the wrong way. As I stated though. Fun book, interesting read, didn't think I would like it as I've never particularly been interested in Bigfoot stuff. But he did a good job keeping you invested until the end of the novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

saltedsnail's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death

oiabluenoon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Compelling, funny, survival, horror, so so fun to read I was gasping aloud and moving around in my chair I couldn’t sit still reading it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Murder, and War

mx_harpstar's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Eating disorder, Antisemitism, and War

caseofspades's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

seanml's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.25

It's hard to go wrong with a journal entry-styled horror novel about sasquatch. Don't worry, Max Brooks didn't go wrong. I find a lot of horror books have great concepts that run thin by the end, but with this I felt the opposite: it seemed like Brooks checked all the boxes he wanted to in plot, but I wish it could've gone on longer! The book quickly ramps up, but it would have been fun to see even more of the tense middle section. The last book to actually keep me up that I can remember is Adam Nevill's The Ritual, but now it goes to the bigfoot book. Primates are scary. 8.5/10.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death and Excrement

Minor: War

percys_panda_pillow_pet's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, and Gore

Moderate: Cursing, Blood, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Grief, Alcohol, and War

kawooreads's review against another edition

informative tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Phew this book was a wild ride. Mt. Rainier in Washington unexpectedly erupts, causing a large catastrophe. During this seismic event, Greenloop, an eco-community hidden in the mountains, is cut off from the outside world. While awaiting rescue, the inhabitants of this community are faced with a new, horrendous challenge. The animals of the deep forested mountains, disrupted and forced from their homes due to the eruption, are cascading down on the community, and not all the animals are fleeing for their lives. The story is primarily told through journal entries by one of the residents, found at the community along with chaos, destruction, and corpses. Maybe its because I grew up in the hills and redwood forest of the Pacific Northwest, where I have looked out into the woods at night to see eyes looking back, but Sasquatch lore just hits different. The idea of being trapped in the mountains without proper provisions and no promise of rescue is frightening enough, but then add the element of becoming hunted by a predator bigger, stronger, and faster than you, and it makes you question what is real. The story starts slow, and many of the characters were unlikable enough to drive me into the arms of a porcupine if I had to "survive" with them. I imagined this place to be like a community Gwenyth Paltrow would run, just to give you an idea. The second half of the story is so fast-paced it made it hard for me to put down and I stayed up way too late in order to finish it. Content Warning: There is a lot of gore and violence in this one! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail