Reviews

Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite

Only show reviews with written explanations

tchnvsk's review against another edition

this book was a personal litmus test to see what i might consider Too Much. i was almost in the clear, thinking i'm so very cool and desensitized, caught up in the "punk 90s dorian gray in new orleans" vibe and the somber reality of the AIDS crisis, treating the gore as mere symbolism. and then the climax happened. i hated every moment of it, and not in a "can't look away" manner. it straight up ruined the book for me and made me regret this whole endeavor. i will say though, reading up on the author and finding out he has since come out as a trans man makes a lot of sense and has sated some of my unease. not all, but some.

reads4v's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

l_prelas's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

pithingcontest's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

1.25

[2.5/10] WOW this was disappointing. I was so excited because I absolutely LOVE Hannibal and Killing Eve but this was... not great. Some of the prose is beautiful! ...and sometimes you have to read the words "sugar candy asshole" and you reconsider your entire life up til now. Maybe as a lesbian I was not the target audience for this, but this REEKED OF FETISHIZATION, and not in a good or interesting way, in a "makes-you-flip-the-book-over-and-glare-at-the-straight-white-woman-on-the-back-who-wrote-this" way. I am SHOCKED that the synopsis on the back doesn't mention HIV because it comprises the vast majority of the book, and while there are plenty of stories I love that focus on the AIDS epidemic, something about Exquisite Corpse just does not sit right with me. It's not the horror or gore aspect, I fucking love horror and have a stomach of steel; it just felt like reading niche erotica for a fetish that I am NOT into that also felt somehow homophobic despite having like 1 straight character. Plus I didn't like a lot of the writing choices—I really appreciated the double wordplay of the "Lush Rimbaud" bit, but it was a bit ruined when she went into detail explaining who Rimbaud was, in case you didn't read the name and notice it was different from "Rimbaugh" I guess? (Which also feels weird, a straight woman using FUCKING ARTHUR RIMBAUD's life as well as both his first and last names.) Some of the monologues feel like blog posts in the worst possible way, and while most of the time it's based, I cannot emphasize enough how jarring it is. The pacing is also ATROCIOUS, it's so fucking slow and drawn out until you FINALLY get to what the synopsis promised and it BARELY picks up, and then the last 50 pages are so quick it feels incredibly rushed. I'm not a romance fan to begin with, but the romance(s) were SO superficial, especially the main one! No build up or tension once they meet—which might be the difference that makes me hate this and love Hannibal/Killing Eve. Really disappointed, I thought I'd love this! Reads like the fantasy of a woman who gets her rocks off on gay men dying. Doesn't feel deep or profound, just insulting & disrespectful Jeffrey Dahmer fanfiction. Gross, in the wrong way.