Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert

12 reviews

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

What a tone shift from the first book!  Honestly this one kind of went off the rails into unhinged territory in the second half.  It was a very slow political machination start and then it turns into everything falling into place depending on who did the better job at plotting and scheming...  Absolutely wild.  I don't know how I feel about it fully but I'm going to think about it for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Genocide, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

col_atreides's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

Probably much better on reread 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism and Body horror

owenwilsonbaby's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

‘I live in an apocalyptic dream. My steps fit into it so precisely that I fear most of all I will grow bored reliving the thing so exactly.’

Why was the end of Paul’s arc so filler-y? Some great character beats but this took me so long to read and frequently lost me along the way. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Incest, Infertility, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

viktoriann's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

gremlingorl's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

They took my fucking eyes, Pooh

Saint Alia of the Knife, you will always be famous (to me).

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror and Pregnancy

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, and Abortion

icarusandthesun's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

2.0

dune—but it felt like a cheap knock-off.
there are some bigs twists in this book that should've thrown you off, made you put the book down for a few seconds to comprehend what just happened; should've, but it didn't. 

even though the book ends on chani's death and the main character PAUL ATREIDES' LITERALLY DISAPPEARING/DYING, i was left more confused than shocked and unimpressed, too.

it was the writing, mostly. i don't know where frank herbert went wrong (& perhaps i am the problem), but the narration was dry and all the 'political intrigue' a yap-fest. 
how the conflict was resolved in the end felt rushed and a little silly.
wasn't a fan.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Moderate: Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Blood and Medical content

monserrot's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Blood, Abortion, and Cultural appropriation

infinite_harness9030's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infertility, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, and War

Minor: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Self harm, Slavery, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

eurypterus's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.5

Paul has to come to terms with fate and a plot to control him. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Body horror, Infertility, Torture, Blood, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Child death and Incest

hollowpointe's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Incest, Infertility, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Colonisation, and War