_marjolaine_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, Sexual violence, Gore, Death, Racism, Blood, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, and Murder
cait_henry56's review against another edition
It is disturbing, but not scary. It relies on vivid descriptions of sexual violence and racism. Nothing substantial or as interesting as the Thriftbooks reviews led me to believe. It has a similar ick to his Endimon series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Racism, Torture, Violence, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Gore, Racial slurs, and Rape
Moderate: War
gf5770902's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
slow-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Genocide, Gore, Body shaming, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Body horror, and Cultural appropriation
megscuriousmind's review against another edition
3.0
Almost completely worth it
Even though this is a pretty hefty sized book, the beginning and most of the middle is so thrilling and exciting that it flew by. The second half of the book kind of drags on big portions that made me feel like I was in a goose chase. Approaching the end I became to frustrated and angry like the ending would never come at all. The ending itself almost makes up for it, but it was not the super satisfying conclusion I was searching for. There were a couple editing errors I found in the book that confused me, not knowing if it was deliberate or not. I would only re-read this book again for just the beginning and middle. That is where this book shines the most.
Even though this is a pretty hefty sized book, the beginning and most of the middle is so thrilling and exciting that it flew by. The second half of the book kind of drags on big portions that made me feel like I was in a goose chase. Approaching the end I became to frustrated and angry like the ending would never come at all. The ending itself almost makes up for it, but it was not the super satisfying conclusion I was searching for. There were a couple editing errors I found in the book that confused me, not knowing if it was deliberate or not. I would only re-read this book again for just the beginning and middle. That is where this book shines the most.
4thenasbooks's review against another edition
3.0
While I did enjoy most of the book I was no the biggest fan of the ending
thisotherbookaccount's review against another edition
Dan Simmons and I have a strange, love/hate relationship. There are no middle grounds when it comes to his books with me. I’ve either loved his works or hated them with a raging passion. Carrion Comfort is supposed to be a fresh new take on the vampire genre — a genre that has been, pardon the pun, done to death. At least that is what was promised on the front cover of the book. Instead, and unfortunately, this book falls under the “couldn’t care less” pile for Simmons’ works.
I couldn’t finish the book, even though I was about 150 pages to the end. It’s been sometime since I’ve read this book, so I don’t quite remember the exact details. But I stopped reading when a mere detective was planning an all-out assault on a private island. It sounds interesting, but the story lost a lot of steam by then — and that’s a common problem with a lot of Simmons’ books. He goes on and on and on, and no one tells him to pull back on the descriptions. There is a finish line, but your legs are tied up as readers, and you are forced to wriggle your way to the end.
That’s not the way I like to read.
I couldn’t finish the book, even though I was about 150 pages to the end. It’s been sometime since I’ve read this book, so I don’t quite remember the exact details. But I stopped reading when a mere detective was planning an all-out assault on a private island. It sounds interesting, but the story lost a lot of steam by then — and that’s a common problem with a lot of Simmons’ books. He goes on and on and on, and no one tells him to pull back on the descriptions. There is a finish line, but your legs are tied up as readers, and you are forced to wriggle your way to the end.
That’s not the way I like to read.
mxpringle's review against another edition
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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I loved how thorough the concepts were in terms of describing the psychology of evil in the real world. The characters were really well thought out and it was very gripping, even though it was long.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Blood, Child abuse, Body horror, Hate crime, Child death, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Kidnapping, Medical content, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Terminal illness, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Slavery, Stalking, Vomit, and Xenophobia
feainnewedd's review against another edition
4.0
God, I finally finished this book. I had a generous 21-day loan from the library that I extended to 6 more days because this is such a chonker of a novel.
Listen, I'm not intimidated by big books with many characters and locales. I've read all the published A Song of Ice and Fire books and your head will spin with the number of characters + all their plotting, and I didn't think they were long. I read the uncut version of Stephen King's The Stand and it's weird cause after all's been said and done, I do like Carrion Comfort better - but The Stand (which is slightly longer, I believe) didn't feel this long and dragging.
Perhaps it's the very long chapters, perhaps I was expecting a different kind of book (it was more action than horror to me), or perhaps the novel could've done with a healthy dose of trimming, but it certainly felt too long.
That's why I'm rating this 3.5/5 stars. I love vampire stories. I tend to view books with good endings favorably, and I was really satisfied with the ending of this one. Also, it's an excellent novel with well-crafted characters who feel alive (I love Saul Laski) and fantastic antagonists. I truly wish we could've seen more of them, especially C. Arnold Barent and Willi. That would've been far more interesting than drawn-out gunfights and high-speed chases.
• Expected it to delve deeply into the activities, motivations, desires of the mind vampires but it was mostly an action novel.
• I feel silly, but I find it frustrating that Barent and Willi, who underestimated Melanie, didn't realize she was perhaps the most powerful of them all. Only Saul, Natalie (and maybe Jackson, who was with them when they were talking about the last step of their plan) knew the extent of Melanie's abilities. Harod may have had an inkling because he did say he didn't want to do anything with someone who's been playing The Game with Willi all these years.
• Should've explored Barent's and Willi's abilities more. Barent's power is very interesting! I expected a showdown featuring a full showcase of these two powerful mind vampires' abilities but got human chess instead.
• But well, I did love the final showdown between Saul and his Oberst.
• How did Barent convince Nina to trust him and turn on her old friends? I wish this was addressed in the novel.
• Read the introduction to the 20th anniversary edition, and was outraged that the first editor wanted Dan Simmons to cut out the "Holocaust stuff" from the book. Glad he didn't cave in.
Listen, I'm not intimidated by big books with many characters and locales. I've read all the published A Song of Ice and Fire books and your head will spin with the number of characters + all their plotting, and I didn't think they were long. I read the uncut version of Stephen King's The Stand and it's weird cause after all's been said and done, I do like Carrion Comfort better - but The Stand (which is slightly longer, I believe) didn't feel this long and dragging.
Perhaps it's the very long chapters, perhaps I was expecting a different kind of book (it was more action than horror to me), or perhaps the novel could've done with a healthy dose of trimming, but it certainly felt too long.
That's why I'm rating this 3.5/5 stars. I love vampire stories. I tend to view books with good endings favorably, and I was really satisfied with the ending of this one. Also, it's an excellent novel with well-crafted characters who feel alive (I love Saul Laski) and fantastic antagonists. I truly wish we could've seen more of them, especially C. Arnold Barent and Willi. That would've been far more interesting than drawn-out gunfights and high-speed chases.
Spoiler
RANDOM THOUGHTS• Expected it to delve deeply into the activities, motivations, desires of the mind vampires but it was mostly an action novel.
• I feel silly, but I find it frustrating that Barent and Willi, who underestimated Melanie, didn't realize she was perhaps the most powerful of them all. Only Saul, Natalie (and maybe Jackson, who was with them when they were talking about the last step of their plan) knew the extent of Melanie's abilities. Harod may have had an inkling because he did say he didn't want to do anything with someone who's been playing The Game with Willi all these years.
• Should've explored Barent's and Willi's abilities more. Barent's power is very interesting! I expected a showdown featuring a full showcase of these two powerful mind vampires' abilities but got human chess instead.
• But well, I did love the final showdown between Saul and his Oberst.
• How did Barent convince Nina to trust him and turn on her old friends? I wish this was addressed in the novel.
• Read the introduction to the 20th anniversary edition, and was outraged that the first editor wanted Dan Simmons to cut out the "Holocaust stuff" from the book. Glad he didn't cave in.