Reviews with content warning for Body horror - The Employees: A workplace novel of the 22nd century

Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Employees: A workplace novel of the 22nd century by Olga Ravn

31 reviews

ekcd_'s review against another edition

mysterious fast-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? No

4.0

Surreal, haunting, felt like it was over my head intellectually but that somehow made the book better - feeling this persistent itch that I misunderstood something. Or everything.

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gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective fast-paced

3.5

This is a strange little book. It’s more into poetry than it is to being a novel with a plot, but the prose is wonderful and evocative of the senses the Objects are emitting.

It’s definitely a satire on modern workplace culture and dehumanization, but it was really something special.

Wish that it was a bit more fleshed out but overall worth a read if you like strange sci-fi.

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sunn_bleach's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

I love the conceit of this novella - brief little vignettes and reports where you can still kinda suss out who is saying what as it evolves. My one complaint is that Ravn gets a little too coy for the book's own good, especially at the start, which is oddly juxtaposed by some very talking-to-the-reader moments two-thirds through even for a book where the characters are literally talking to the reader. (I think that made sense.)

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trips's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

This was alright?
Not great but far from bad.

I loved the unique method of storytelling. It feels odd to me that the person writing down the employees statements wouldn't ask for more detail as that is kinda the job of the person, right? To get a clearer picture? But can respect that the author wanted to make the situation as chaotic for you reading it as it was for the characters in the book.

Weird read, worth trying.

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basedqt's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad fast-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

Such a good, surreal little book. I love the narrative style and the way the story unfolds. Some really great body horror in here too.

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emilymacgregor99's review against another edition

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4.25

Definitely one to read in one sitting instead of splitting up, and it’s short enough to do that over only an hour or two.

This was really intriguing and had a very satisfying conclusion, I just wish it was slightly longer to develop the arc of the humanoids more as this would have really helped deliver a sharper punch at the end, but this was a refreshing read and I’d definitely recommend!

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sunsetsyd's review against another edition

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challenging inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

I really liked this and I agree with everyone that it reads more as an art piece rather than a narration.

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heyheyhaley's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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

How does one go about rating a book that was good yet you did not enjoy?

I always have this problem when I find books that I can acknowledge are good and have good themes and are well written, but I did not enjoy reading nor do I want to read similar books. I tend to just rate upon my enjoyment with the acknowledgement of its good features

The Employees cemented that poetry is not for me. It explored some very interesting ideas regarding what it means to be human and feelings of isolation but while I could like individual poems or lines, I could not fully connect as poetry is not a medium I enjoy.

3 stars but it would be higher if I liked poetry.

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glowingpages's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

It had a very interesting premise and it was fun to piece together the story through the context of personal reports. This book was a great exploration into humanity, the need for connection, and loneliness. If a reader didn’t or couldn’t read too much into it, it still made for an entertaining journey.

This book reminds me of what it’s like to gather little pieces of lore in video games (through scattered notes, lost tapes, environmental clues, etc.)

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fermentedsorcerer's review against another edition

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dark sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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