Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Lakewood by Megan Giddings

23 reviews

bookworm_ran's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Violence, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Vomit

zenzi2read's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body horror and Gaslighting

kather_doc's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Vomit, Confinement, Classism, Body horror, and Blood

spineofthesaurus's review against another edition

tense

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Dysphoria, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Violence, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Racism, Self harm, Physical abuse, Torture, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Gaslighting, Stalking, Abandonment, Murder, Classism, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Cancer, Drug abuse, Grief, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Slavery, Vomit, Addiction, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, and Trafficking

Minor: Car accident, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

tigger89's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I picked this book up because I'd read and enjoyed The Women Could Fly last year, and was interested to see what else Giddings had written. It wasn't bad by any means, but I didn't enjoy it as much. I have a difficult time pinpointing what exactly my issue with it was. The characters were compelling, and I was invested in the setting, central problem, and mystery. I had no disagreement with the writing style or the pacing. It was just fine, and as much as I turn it over in my mind I can't articulate why it wasn't better.

This novel's strongest point were the characters, both Lena and her friends and family. I cared and worried about her, as I was watching her make mistakes that she knew were mistakes, yet felt desperate enough to pursue anyway. It was a disturbingly plausible situation, one that plays out — albeit with uncaring capitalism in place of conspiracy — all the time in this country. The experimental sections(for lack of a better term, if you know you know) were also very well-written, trippy and mind-bending but at the same time easily able to be followed. This story definitely put the psychological in the thriller, leaving you doubting every scene after a point.

If you're looking for an ending with answers, I'll be upfront with you: you're not gonna find any here. I personally thought it was a good ending, but it pretty much drops a bombshell on you and then leaves you hanging to form your own theory about what exactly happened. So, I recognize that's not everyone's cup of tea. After reflecting on it for a day or so, though, I found it to be appropriately horrific.

My interpretation was that the experiments would have continued, but for the fact that they got greedy and went too far. The water tasting bad? That was an experiment, but they made the mistake of testing not on their PoC test subjects but on the white residents of the town, which garnered the media attention that the previous protests against the experimental institute hadn't.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Cancer, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Terminal illness, and Vomit

ikillsunflowers's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Cancer, Death, and Body horror

Minor: Addiction, Vomit, and Grief

zombiezami's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Body horror, Medical trauma, Classism, Medical content, Gaslighting, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Torture, Cursing, Sexism, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Cancer, Vomit, Sexual harassment, and Death of parent

kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Gore

Moderate: Vomit and Child abuse

bitterseason's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Dementia, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Stalking, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Police brutality, and Sexual assault

helhas3letters's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Very readable. The plot hooked me completely and despite a few awkward turns of phrase, I raced through this one.
My main gripe, however, is that I felt the ending was rushed and left too open-ended. I wanted more concrete answers and explanations as to why half the events in the book occurred. I understand that a lot of modern fiction leaves things up to interpretation for the reader, but in this case it felt less 'up to interpretation' and more 'couldn't be bothered thinking of specific reasons why specific things happened'.
The ending was also unfortunately semi-spoiled for me by a way too on-the-nose and frankly reductive pull quote on the cover of the book. It was from Essence and read:

"Reminiscent of Jordan Peele's terrifying film Get Out."

If you've read the book, you'll know what I mean when I say that reading that quote essentially told me the entire ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Blood, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Death of parent, Medical content, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Cancer, Gore, Death, Colonisation, Torture, Racism, and Murder

Minor: Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Ableism, Stalking, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts