Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Dead Inside by Chandler Morrison

63 reviews

miarosefox's review against another edition

dark

picked this up because a youtuber recommended it and said it was super extreme. it was certainly gross! gratuitously so! no point to it at all! the incel writing style made this a hard one to get through but it’s so short that i trudged through. even if it’s splatterpunk satire, the “i’m edgy and different” vibes were too much

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Abortion, and Murder

amatoxin's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

1.0

As someone who usually enjoys dark, taboo and gruesome books i was truly disappointed by this book.
Its not because it was uncomfortable but because of the poor writing.
The gore and disturbing scenes i can only see fulfill a purpose of being shock porn and nothing else, theres no point or meaning behind them. The writer is literally an angsty teenager who is “not like everyone else” and no one can tell me otherwise.

I was annoyed the whole time by his self inserts and the only reason why i read the whole thing  is cause im a completionist and its less than 200 pages.

1/5 (only cause its so bad that its funny at times), do not recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Cannibalism, and Pregnancy

kristinajoy07's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

perpetuallygreads's review against another edition

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Abortion, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

hannah_allen's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

2.0

I believe there are two ways to write a disturbing book. The first way is to develop the characters, their personalities, their backgrounds, etc to give the reader full insight into why each character is the way they are; the story calls for dark scenes because the characters have been intentionally created to be dark people. The second way is to say to yourself, “What are the most disgusting/vile/disturbing things people can do? I want to write those things and have my characters do them.”

Unfortunately, this author chose the latter of these options when writing Dead Inside.

The reader receives limited information about the two main characters and their backgrounds. There isn’t a full-fledged story told- we go from one horrific and gruesome situation to the next, until the book eventually ends. And in my opinion, if an author is going to commit to the dark and disturbing parts of the human psyche, then the author has a responsibility to the reader to write a story, not a series of disturbing happenings loosely woven together with necrophilia and cannibalism.

Aside from the author’s descriptions of the books’ settings, the prose is underwhelming, and the dialogue feels forced. The twist is predictable, but is set up very well throughout the book. The author gives the reader a lovely, ironic dichotomy of the two characters’ “final forms” in the last pages that gives some relief from their grotesque tension. I also enjoyed the brief periods of time I found myself “rooting for” the main character; these were also welcomed reprieves from the book’s (at times) unnecessary graphicness. 

With all that being said, I *am* sitting here thinking and talking about this book, and this could very well be one of the author’s goals. In that sense, he did what he set out to do. I just think this book could have been written with a clearer point of view. Maybe I’ve interpreted this in a way it’s not meant to be interpreted, but I will not be re-reading this book to parcel that out. 

If you want a much darker, shorter, and more disturbing book with the same vibes as Verity by Colleen Hoover, this *might* be a book worth your time. If you absolutely love body-horror movies, this might be a book worth your time. If you’re looking for something purposefully shocking, this also might be a book worth your time. 

TRIGGER WARNINGS (graphic descriptions): necrophilia, cannibalism, sexual assault, rape, abortion, infant death.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Cannibalism, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Rape and Murder

Graphic descriptions of necrophilia are included 2-3 times throughout this book.

thestrayreader's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

3.0

I don't freaking know how to rate this thing because it's written well but it feels like forbidden literature. WTF WAS THAT?!!!! I had to skip a lot because I couldn't stomach the unfolding events involving babies but I couldn't stop because I kept thinking 'there has to be a point, right?!!!'

I need a day, no a year, off of whatever this is. 😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, Abortion, and Pregnancy

mossroot's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

I forced myself to finish this book. Every minute was painful and I almost genuinely (scouts honor) vomited on two occasions. Wanted to see if this type of horror was for me and I grossly underestimated how vile it would actually be. This story does not use its vile actions to further the plot, tell any meaningful story, create any suspense, or make any type of commentary. Truly regret reading this book. It had well written descriptions, don't get me wrong, with a story that was aware of how disgusting it was, but it was not something I enjoyed at all. I am a horror and thriller fan, but this is anything but. This is splatterpunk to the extreme. Reader beware. 

I feel incapable of currently giving this book any type of star rating, due to the how absolutely disgusting and vile the subject matter is.

No part of me feels that I can say this book deserves any stars. Fucking a dead baby is just something that I cannot get behind. Not even mentioned off hand, this sex act is VISCERALLY explained. There is no true justice or anything for this MC and it's very bleak and disgusting.

 

Dead Inside took me a little over two hours to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Cannibalism, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

jwvaughn's review against another edition

dark sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Cannibalism, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

voxvenati's review against another edition

fast-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? Yes

1.0

Hmm…where to start? I’ll say, I think the cover was gorgeous and tricked me into thinking this was going to have some real meat (ba dum tch) to it. Foolish of me. I did give it a single star instead of zero bc it was so fast to read, and I kept hoping it would get better.

Yes, there’s gore. Yes, there’s sex. Yes, there are shocking things! Was any of it done well? No. 

There was no attempt at atmosphere and there were no vibes, so this didn’t even tip the scales of making me squeamish, or horrified. The main character sounds like he’s a little boy half the time. Even as satire, this just doesn’t have a lot to it. Where is the commentary? This is not a horror so much as an edgy comedy. 

The prose was childish and some stylistic choices were annoying. Another reviewer summed it up perfectly:

This book is basically a teen edgelord trying to be edgy and shocking while broaching philosophical topics…The problem is the philosophy addressed is about as deep as a can of tuna…

If you want to read something for shock value’s sake with baby’s first examination of being a social outcast, fine. You do you. Check those trigger warnings and then check it out. But there’s not a whole lot going on here beyond a teenager’s edgy splatterpunk attempt at being deep. Go girl, give us nothing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Gore, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Abortion, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Body shaming, Incest, Infidelity, Racism, and Classism

jully_bean's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Eating disorder, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, and Pregnancy