Reviews

Closer, by Dennis Cooper

valentinechild's review

reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

sunnybopeep's review

3.5

Ah man, this was brutal. The violence and torture were one thing, but the impersonal, apathetic nature of the storytelling was too much… It literally made me want to die.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Gore, Excrement, Death, Blood, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Violence, Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, Car accident, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Murder, Mental illness, Torture, Toxic friendship, Injury/injury detail, Bullying, and Addiction

mallratsemiannual's review

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

1.0

This book was insane, and not in a good or fun way. Felt like a car crash I couldn't look away from. Needed to take multiple breaks because some passages were genuinely nauseating. I'm sure there is an audience for this out there, but it is absolutely NOT me. The writing was well done, I just wish the writing was about literally anything else. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Rape, Blood, Body horror, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Injury/injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Excrement

Moderate: Violence, Vomit, Death, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, and Car accident

Minor: Grief, Incest, and Terminal illness

Do not underestimate the excrement content warning. One of the characters

Spoiler

has a scat consumption fetish, that comes up MULTIPLE times, in graphic detail.

aidantriestoread's review

dark 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? Yes

3.0

spav's review against another edition

2.0

Repítese en fórmulas con Guía (IMHO, moito mellor obra)

ragingmotions's review

dark medium-paced

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

0.5

duncanvb's review against another edition

4.0

This book scared the absolute life out of me. A lot of writers present what they consider to be the absolute depth of human darkness - what Cooper offers is a brief, controlled glimpse at horror with no discernible limit.

wendiyu's review

5.0

twinkspotting.

slamberts's review against another edition

4.0

The writing is really immersive and haunting, capturing perfectly the teenage ennui. Need to re-read it truly understand whether I liked it though. This is my first time reading Cooper, and I'll probably continue with the cycle and his other writing because it's lauded by so many others!

kingkong's review against another edition

3.0

these kids are not alright