Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

141 reviews

artmuseam's review against another edition

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

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

5.0

to start, i have never read anything like this book before. a combination of cult survival, body metamorphosis, and exploring sexuality that somehow weaves together so well to construct a unique take on horror. this book reminded me somewhat of the works of octavia butler; stress was a big factor in what kept me going through the book. i was terrified for the main character, vern, but also terrified of her at certain points. i found elements of myself in her through her tentative exploration of her sexual orientation while also learned about what love is. this was such an exciting and different approach to horror and i thoroughly enjoyed this book! 5/5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Blood, Body horror, Murder, Stalking, Sexual violence, Death, and Gore

sarahsbookstacks's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.5

Holy fuck

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Death, Body horror, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, and Gore

casthefanby's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Gore, Murder, Blood, and Body horror

Moderate: Racism, Animal death, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, Self harm, Kidnapping, and Sexism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Trafficking, and Addiction

clare072's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, Gore, Chronic illness, and Body horror

Minor: Confinement, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Colonisation, and Child death

omniscienttaco's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma and Body horror

kanj1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Gore, Child abuse, Violence, Sexism, Racism, Pedophilia, Lesbophobia, Grief, Abandonment, and Misogyny

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Blood, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Confinement

sirthatsacowboy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Stalking, Death, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Medical content, Body horror, Gore, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

nrfrhny's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Suicide

ash_ton's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

3.75

i read this for the LGBTQIA+ book club i'm a part of! i don't normally gravitate towards science fiction so it's always nice to be pleasantly surprised. 
i was not expecting the turn the book took. like, at all. wild

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Homophobia, Blood, Stalking, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Sexism, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Cannibalism, Child death, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, and Sexual content

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Terminal illness, Suicide, Bullying, Cancer, and Cultural appropriation

bruisedtigers's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I enjoyed this a lot! This developed really well for 3/4 of the story, but the conclusion felt sadly rushed in comparison, which is a shame because it flows so well beforehand. 

Some dialogue with side/supporting characters is very heavy-handed for making a statement, which is all very well, but feels unbalanced compared to the more eloquent writing of similar issues in other sections of the book. Unfortunately, it sticks out in an odd way. 

The character work is great and I always admire well-written child characters in fiction. So much of this gets under the skin and lurks in an eerie way. Unique with its horror elements and very haunting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Homophobia, Hate crime, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Kidnapping, Grief, Body horror, Racism, Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, Torture, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Slavery, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Racial slurs, and Police brutality