Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor

15 reviews

sshabein's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

I liked this a lot, though I admit to some discomfort with some of the violence. And that feels sort of intentional, theme-wise, which is fine. Ymmv

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Child abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Vomit and Homophobia

changelingreader_adrian's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Homophobia, Cancer, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal cruelty, and Excrement

smolfrog's review

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Suicide attempt, Vomit, and Homophobia

Moderate: Cancer, Sexism, and Misogyny

netylu's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Self harm, and Violence

sydapel's review

dark emotional 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

3.75

I enjoyed this a lot more than 'Real Life', though I'm skeptical if the 'interconnected short story' format worked for me, at least in audiobook form. It makes the story at the core, and thereby the story I was most invested in, feel disjointed and a little less developed in comparison. Despite this, the emotional heart in each of the stories is deeply felt, always centering a craving for intimacy or something past or future that seems too far to grasp. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Alcohol, Excrement, Cancer, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Homophobia and Lesbophobia

marjoleinvanderspoel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Brandon Taylor continues to prove his immense skill with this collection of short stories unlike any other such collection I've read. With this collection Taylor proves his breadth as a story teller by branching into many different kinds of lives, whilst maintaining an atmosphere that keeps the collection coherent. The incorporation of an overarching or recurring story about Lionel, Charles and Sophie was cleverly done, and the story itself was wonderfully complex and compelling, reminiscent of Real Life in it's dealing with mental health and academia, something that I appreciated enormously in his debut. In addition I greatly enjoyed "as if that were love" and perhaps my favourite story, "anne of cleves". I only wish we would have gotten a story from Sophie's perspective as I found her to be a much more interesting character than Charles. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, and Cancer

Moderate: Homophobia, Vomit, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Animal death, Addiction, and Domestic abuse

helenkadetroika's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Violence, Sexual content, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

erikawynn's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Self harm

Moderate: Sexual violence and Sexual harassment

hannahmcc's review against another edition

emotional reflective relaxing medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence

lumoon33's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

writing short stories and making each one of them engaging is really fucking difficult. brandon taylor's writing is so beautiful that it has you sticking around even when you don't feel that much for characters you didn't know three pages ago. but suddenly, 5 pages into a new short story you're already invested. i loved lionel and im really glad he's the one character that got more than one story. it is true that some of these chapters felt unfinished, but i think that made sense with the plot and the intention of this book—after all, we're just getting a few glimpses into these people's lives, we're not staying. i can't give it 5 stars simply because i had to skip the two stories that dealt with cancer and terminal illnesses, i would've appreciated a warning. i loved loved loved this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Terminal illness, Violence, Rape, Sexual content, and Homophobia