Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Paradise Rot

Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval

74 reviews

xxmaggiexx's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

It’s weird and different than most books I’ve been reading, which was refreshing. I delighted in the imagery, the themes that weaved throughout, and the complex emotions. Please more like this. I couldn’t put it down. I like to nestle in taboo, I am far more fascinated than repulsed. go off!!

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mandarins's review against another edition

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2.5

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librarymouse's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

Similar to her later book Girls Against God, Jenny Hval's Paradise Rot queers the human body through its association with decay, excrement, and bodily fluids. The whole book reads as a fever dream and ends with Jo having moved out, struggling to remember the details of Carral, rotting and sick from their shared apartment. Time moves slowly in the narrative, but the passing of time is denoted by the rotting of the apples that their relationship was predicated on. The thread of Carral's com-het, and the consistent creepiness of their writer neighbor managed to sustain the majority of the dread in the novel, whereas the anachronistic mushrooms and the motif of rot served as an addition of surrealism. Aspects of the novel are frustratingly relatable as a renter with landlords who don't take care of mold problems. As a librarian, Carral's desecration and theft of a library book are more frustrating than markers of the illicit.

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jimmyvini's review against another edition

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mysterious fast-paced

3.0

Uh huh ! okay !
I really see the vision in this but I think it could have been executed a lot better. It reminded me of Last Night In Soho at first but of course started to grow in a more visceral direction as it went on. I really enjoyed the imagery and descriptions in it, they were really raw. I enjoyed the slightly disorienting pacing that kind of resembles Jo's state of mind, and the view we get into her relationship with sexuality was quite well done, but again I think could have been better. Also final note:

What was going on with the piss. I understand it was almost definitely part of the sexual element of the story but I think for how much it features through the book it felt anticlimactic when it didn't lead up to anything majorly significant, like a checkhov's gun that never went off. Disappointing!

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alexismoodie's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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elijahcole's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

really good and gross, loved it. a lot more piss than i expected though.

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pheebabeeba_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

The book follows the protagonist, Djåoanna, AKA Jo, a Norwegian transfer student starting her first year in University to study Biology. In need of housing, she meets a young woman named Carral, who offers her lodging in an apartment, refurnished from an old brewery. Jo quickly notices the apartment seems alive and breathing. Jo also starts to develop an obsession for her new roommate, Carral.

This book is definitely a silent horror, left much to the description of Jo’s thoughts. That element makes Jo, the protagonist rather sinister herself. These thoughts tend to often be her own fascinations and perversions. Her thoughts feel almost intrusive in nature.

The horror is the kind that builds up slowly, from brief descriptions to a far deeper experience (the horror was a bit too slow to my liking). I found this book very descriptive and imaginative. I enjoyed a lot of the visuals the book gave, especially at the start of the book. It’s what drew me to continue further.

The ending was perhaps a bit anticlimactic but I would say overall this was an interesting read.

(Here is a fair warning to anyone who considers reading this book: There’s quite a lot of descriptions of piss. Urine is a frequent source of interest in this novel. If you don’t care for all of that, I cannot recommend this. Fortunately, I wasn’t too bothered by it.)

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