Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Der Exorzist by William Peter Blatty

4 reviews

gnraud's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Very, very good book. It's very intense and it's a lot more graphic than the movie in a lot more ways. If it were a direct movie it would be NC-17.

Read it when you have plenty of time to put the book down and process what you just read; in a place where no one can glance over your shoulder and see obscenities; and nowhere near mealtimes. 

I recommend reading an ebook instead of paper, if you can. This has some pretty intense vocabulary ("inchoate presentiment", anyone?) and it would have been very helpful to be able to define them quickly. There are also some snippets of other languages (ie, Latin during liturgy) and I'm sure it would be much easier to translate in an ebook! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

Minor: Animal death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Abortion, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Deportation

devynrj's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.75

A heavy and immaculate slow burn. It was honestly a bit hard to get into at first, the writing and voice of the characters is very specific in a way that was a bit hard for me to read before I got used to it.
I love the realistic build up and interpretation of Regan’s symptoms. It really kept me hooked. We all have a pretty good idea of what’s going to go down based on the prologue, title, and popularity of the film, but it was still very engaging and interesting to read exactly how it would play out. 
Because of the slow burn nature, there were some points where it felt like we were just treading water and the story sort of plateaus, but it really does pay off eventually.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Alcoholism and Homophobia

thereadingdude's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Blood, and Vomit

Moderate: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Suicide, Excrement, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol

eininthebird's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• 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

3.0

Big content warning for this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail