Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Dead Inside by Chandler Morrison

63 reviews

nemann19's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? No

This book was extremely perverted - not groundbreaking, daring, or any other adjective that could describe a decent work of fiction. It was beyond disturbing and nauseating, but not in the way you hope a horror book will be. This is the darkest and most vile form of humanity put into a book. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Cannibalism, Car accident, Abortion, and Pregnancy

novellearts's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I started reading this with no prior knowledge of the plot line and grabbed it simply because the cover was "pretty." To say I was surprised would be a massive understatement. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting, but it wasn't what I got. With as pretty as this cover is, the story certainly is not. This story won't be palatable for many readers.

This book was pretty sick to read but I really enjoyed it. I devoured this book (pun intended). With how morally horrible the two main characters were, I was surprised to actually find myself loving them. The dark humor and conversation between the two had me chuckling. Some (most) lines and scenes throughout had me audibly saying "what the fuck?" I think part of the appeal of this book to me was how incredibly outlandish everything felt.

Also, a special shoutout to reading yet another book set in Ohio. I've decided that I need to start a tally of horror books that choose Ohio as their origin. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Incest and Infidelity

cass_booklover's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

The content of this book gets sicker and sicker until pedophilia is introduced and that was the final straw. Totally disgusting content and not to my reading taste. Do not recommend.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Cannibalism, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

kcraig73's review against another edition

dark 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

5.0

5 star read for me. I would definitely read again. The writing is somewhat elementary but I actually think that adds to it. Gruesome and dark, definitely some fucked up shit in here. Loved it. Check the content warnings. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Abortion, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

stormfather's review against another edition

dark sad 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

There are certain things you can expect from the genre so I came into this ready to be disturbed but at a certain point it felt more comedic and heavy handed. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Cannibalism, Abortion, and Murder

samohtj's review against another edition

dark funny 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? Yes

3.5

I like to think of myself as a person who can handle extreme horror, even enjoy it, and have been looking for an ingress to the dark and depraved underbelly of literature. This book came recommended to me, and with its approachable length, I gave it the old college try. I gotta say... disgusted does not even begin to cover it. I've been on the internet a long time, I've seen some insane shit, but there were a few scenes in this that almost made me tap out. I made it through, and now I have a good benchmark for what my eyes and my stomach can handle. This book is an interesting character study, I suppose you could say, and I did enjoy its exploration of how depraved outsiders react to their status: acceptance, rejection, denial, catharsis. The narrator, while obnoxious and frustrating, did paint a sickeningly relatable picture of a person who desperately wants to cling to the things that make them different, at the cost if their own happiness. The sentence-by-sentence and scene-by-scene craftsmanship left a bit to be desired, and the ending seems to rush up to meet you, and for those reasons im dropping a star. But the author has clear skill and intent, and the story was (in a sense) enjoyable, so I would say I liked the book in the end.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, and Cannibalism

downcircles's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

3.75

Don't get me wrong the graphic stuff is VERY grossly graphic and I understandably felt very gross to read. I got this book out of curiosity as I'm exploring darker horror and splatter punk. I did not expect to love the writing style. It takes a certain amount of talent to be able to both describe the most abhorrent graphic shit AND the inner monologue of a horrible guy. Pleasently surprised that there was less gore than I'd expected and more of an interesting exploration of the mind of someone who can commit such awful acts. As is intended by the author the book is very over the top almost cartoonishly so and I do think that is acknowledged in the text. I did not enjoy the moment of "seriously this is your trigger warning" however as it didn't fit the flow. Honestly curious to read other Chandler Morrison works to see what he does with his writing skills. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Abortion, and Murder

quartz's review against another edition

challenging dark funny medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

The vicious violence actually serves a purpose in developing the characters. Especially the main character whose entire world view gets challenged as his relationship with the other main character becomes more intense. Extreme horror with substance.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Cannibalism, Car accident, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Miscarriage

retroreader17's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Abortion, and Murder

elle622's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail