Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Off Season by Jack Ketchum

8 reviews

snickle's review

dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Gore, Body horror, Sexual assault, Vomit, Torture, Pregnancy, Child death, Cannibalism, Blood, and Animal cruelty

waverlyloyd's review

challenging dark mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Vomit, Torture, Animal cruelty, Excrement, Outing, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Sexual harassment, Rape, Blood, Animal death, Incest, and Sexual assault

wholesome_chaotic'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? No

3.0

From the perspective of a horror fan this book has it all. Lean and mean. Gore soaked. Unforgiving. As a horror book it's 5 stars for being so visceral and unrelenting with it's brutality. 

However it also contains every single trigger warning a person could imagine. Very taboo subjects are presented and Ketchum lacks the deft hands to present them as anything more than shock for the sake of it. (I 'm only referring to this book with that previous statement.) It's also grossly sexist and even as a male I found myself rolling my eyes at how the women are portrayed. It doesn't help that the characters are thinner than paper. This why it only has a 3 star rating. 

There's no subtlety in this book. For better and for worse. 

Only recommend for hardcore horror fanatics with stomachs of steel and some questionable morals.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Animal death, Body horror, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Murder, Gore, Gun violence, and Violence

mconard42's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cannibalism, Gore, Animal cruelty, and Rape

erinxmegan's review

dark tense medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Blood, Animal cruelty, and Gore

mjadeh's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This book made me feel physically sick. It was wonderful. I feel like I just watched an 80s slasher film. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Pregnancy, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Cannibalism, Body horror, Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Child death, Blood, Animal death, Stalking, Death, Excrement, Animal cruelty, Gore, Police brutality, Murder, and Gun violence

shubh_reads_constantly's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.5

BLAND. SOOOOOO BLAND. I'll say that this one was actually the weakest novel I have read which features cannibals. And I say features because half of the book doesn't even focus on the cannibals. The first and the second sections of the novel tell us about the life and struggles our characters (who are going to be butchered) have to face in the world. How they think that the person they are dating is not better than the previous person they dated. I DIDN'T LIKE THAT!!!! WHY SHOULD WE KNOW THIS STUFF IF THESE PEOPLE ARE ABOUT TO BE KILLED IN THE NEXT FEW CHAPTERS????  

I am not saying that this is a bad book. It's a good book. But why the unnecessary character development? And what was the purpose of introducing cops in the story? They have no roles in this novel until 90% mark. And that too was kind of unnecessary. Still the parts which DID focus on the cannibals were great. Perfect actually. Which is why I said it's a good book . I hope the next book in the series is better. 3.5 Body fluid lathered stars 🌟🌟🌟✨

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Body horror, Sexual violence, Vomit, Murder, Child death, Blood, Death, Gore, Violence, Sexual harassment, Torture, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Animal death and Animal cruelty

Minor: Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Fatphobia, and Excrement

lghoney's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Gore, Murder, Sexual assault, Torture, and Vomit