Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Wranglestone by Darren Charlton

11 reviews

charthegoose's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This book is great if ur looking for something kinda spooky for spooky season. I found Peter and Cooper to  be lovable and easy to root for. I also loved getting to know the area of Wranglestone and the world these characters live in. The plot twists kept me hooked throughout the story.

However I felt the sexual assault themes were kinda unneeded and it wouldn’t have  affected the story if the kidnapped characters were kidnapped for a different reason, especially as these themes weren’t deeply explored.

despite this overall I though this was a great book and I would definetly read the next one 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

fallen_angel1002's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

 What do you do when you realise that your beliefs about the dead are all wrong? And the cute boy you've been crushing on ends up being bitten by a zombie? A cute LGBT+ YA apocalypse setting with themes of betrayal and loss, showing the life of teenager Peter in his life living in the middle of the Wranglestone National Park Lake. It opens with classic themes of the apocalypse, but with his crush getting bitten and kidnapped, Peter must leave the safety of his home town but ends up uncovering more than just who took Cooper. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

abi_sarah's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I loved this book! 

I’m really starting to enjoy this type of fantasy. I never thought I’d be a zombie apocalypse kinda girl, but I loved ‘The Last of Us’ TV series, really enjoyed the ‘Fallout’ TV series and now this book! 

I thought the premise of the lake acting as the barrier between the living and the dead, made for a really interesting novel. (Although it did remind me a lot of a certain ‘Game of Thrones’ episode 👀) I liked how human the living were in the way they were in complete denial about what was looming, until it actually happened. 

I enjoyed the romance element of the story (I know?!? Who even am I?!) and thought it fitted in really well to the story and added an emotional dimension to the whole thing. 

The writing of this novel was excellent, I was gripped from beginning to end. The only reason it took me this long to finish it was because I was listening with my partner, and getting him to sit down and listen to an audiobook is a difficult task 😅

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Content Warnings

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

winglesswarrior's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

markwillnevercry's review

2.0

Not gonna lie, it felt a bit all over the place. In the beginning I was like, "Ah, it is going to be about Peter learning to kill the restless one and thinking about that process, as a deeply emotional person he is", but nah, that was not the problem. I have a feeling, that there were many ideas, that the writer wanted to involve in the story, but either couldn't think through them well enough or simply didn't have enough space in the book. The general strokes of the story are really nice, but there were some places that made it questionable. The short chapters are nice, but I did not understand most of the times why one chapter would end and the other begin, sometimes in the middle of the scene even. It just felt a bit strange. Overall, it was an enjoyable reading experience, I just wish it was better. 

Reading notes:

Why did he throw away the alarm? Shouldn't he keep carrying it to attract the dead?

And the community is just okay with Bud basically killing someone, by making them a bait and not fully informing them?

Now Peter is going to take over Mr Schmidt's job? Where is this story going?

Bro, the sex scene, bring out the fans, bois, it be steamin hot. 

I have a feeling, that the writer of this book is not too fond of capitalism, seeing how Cooper reacts to the idea of wanting to be born before shit hit the fan. (this is never mentioned again, they never again think about being born at some other time)

Did we really need the scene where they kill Essie? Like, there was a bunch of blood already spilled and it does not really make sense to kill her in such a flashy way. 

So we just leave the rest of people and have just Peter, Cooper, Tom and Becky????

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content, and Slavery

axel_p's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

3.0

The beginning kinda sucked, but after that it was amazing.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

lilifane's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

This was purely a cover buy, which I'm still loving. I wasn't expecting this to be a great book... and it wasn't. The writing is... bad. Really bad. I would describe it as inconsistent and clumsy, same applies for the characters. The plot is all over the place. But I kind of liked it? There were some mysteries and twists I was interested it. And although I liked the characters, I didn't love them. Still, I was rooting for them. Also, the setting and atmosphere are really cool. I liked the national park sceneries, the community on small islands on a lake surrounded by mountains. 
Probably wouldn't recommend it, but I don't regret buying it. It's really pretty. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

nevermoregothic's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Kidnapping

Minor: Bullying, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, and Trafficking

loverboy's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, and Slavery

Minor: Death of parent and Murder

paperlo's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.75

This book started so strong that it had me gripped by the time I was only a few pages in. The relationship between Peter and Cooper from the very start was so charming and so much fun to read, the setting was so atmospheric and the mystery was intriguing.

It moved so quickly that things fell apart just a little for me as the book progressed - although it was still very entertaining and gripping throughout. I read it all in practically one sitting. The plot felt like it had to skim over moments that I would like to have seen, plus Cooper and Peter’s relationship felt as though it went from
the perfect build up to all at once developing much too quickly. All the same, both characters are so charming and their relationship is so lovely that you can’t help but desperately root for them the whole way through. I’ll be thinking about them for a while to come.

The mystery felt somewhat predictable the whole way through, although that never dampened my enjoyment. I wish that some of the moments and plot had been given a little bit more space to breathe and grow.

All the same, it was a fun read. I had a good time! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Murder