Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Terror by Dan Simmons

58 reviews

gvild's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

After watching the series on Netflix, I knew I had to read the book. I think this may have been the fastest I’ve ever read a 700+ book - I couldn’t put it down. The intensity of the impending doom with the added mystery of the thing on the ice made this novel gripping. Though a fair warning; Simmons is a stereotypical male author when it comes to writing about women.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

wemilyebb's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racial slurs, Terminal illness, and Vomit

deebaxreads's review against another edition

Too much unclear skipping around in time, plus waaaaaaaay too much info about every character's past romantical exploits. Only reason I knew what was going on at all was from watching the show first. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Sexual content

msiebz's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.25

What a weird book… and not because of the horror parts. The horror parts were expected. 

I understand it’s set in the Victorian era and there’s rampant racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. but this is like mark twain levels of racial expletives. Also you’re telling me that on these two ships stranded with hundreds of men, the author still manages to put in some very explicit straight sex scenes and not a single explicit gay sex scene. There are some gay moments but they’re are all implied and left to the imagination… and of course he made the main antagonist a gay person. It feels homophobic in a way that isn’t because of the Victorian setting but because the author is lazy and a coward.

I appreciate that the novel has more information about the characters’ backgrounds and motivations -as that’s usually the case with a novel vs a tv series- but I also appreciate the changes the showrunners made to make this story less… clunky? awkward? I don’t know. Some parts are enjoyable and some very much are not.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Medical content, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

zgreads's review against another edition

The sexism, racism, and homophobia added nothing to the story and eventually got too sickening and distracting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Medical trauma, and Cultural appropriation

hfrancesh's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Racial slurs

spinebreakr's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

5.0

The Terror was a beautiful and Grim book.
The writing is elegant and evocative, but somehow brutish and unflinching. 

I felt completely immersed in the tortured minds of the crew. If it wasn't the beast on the ice, danger lurked in the land itself, in the Food, in the wind, in the fog, even in the breast of their fellow mates. Where one obstacle was overcome, another rose in it's place. 

The pure unrelenting desolation feels like it will never end. Simmons had me feeling like I was a member of the crew, which is the highest compliment. But it is not easy to be a sailor aboard HMS Terror or Erebus. 

I highly reccommend this book to horror lovers. Read at your own risk 😁

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

bugaboobear's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

This book was a delightful descent into desperation and death for 95% of the way. 

And then chapter 62 happened and the author decided he was bored with that and changed the tone and subject entirely. 

This was maybe a 4.5 star read for me up until then, but then the ending was largely out of the blue and unsatisfying in my opinion. 

Also a few things to keep in mind: 
1. There are practically no women in the story (for obvious reasons). The women who are in the story are pretty one dimensional. 

2. There is a surprising amount of religious ideology (both Christian and Inuit). Also readings from the Bible. 

3. There is a heavy amount of racism in the beginning and less as the book goes on. It is all era appropriate and makes sense for the characters but can be uncomfortable to read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

nyxlikesbook's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Mental illness, Racial slurs, and Fire/Fire injury

anjalirenee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

slow paced is an understatement please heed my warning. the pace picks up mmmmm around page 350 (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). pretty good although TONS of unnecessary detail about the minutae of ice formations, ship layouts, and wayfinding. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation

Minor: Pedophilia and Pregnancy