Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

25 reviews

bunnyprincess's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Drug use, and Alcohol

sarah984's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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

1.0

I know that a lot of people found the deaths in this book disturbing, but everything in the book was so whimsical and divorced from reality that it really had no effect on me at all. Extreme misogyny and weird transphobia but that's not surprising in a serial killer story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Torture, Transphobia, Medical content, and Murder

Moderate: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, and Excrement

Minor: Rape and Suicide

mettenikkessen's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

This book left me feeling really confused and puzzled. The plot was very unexpected and quite random, and I felt as though I missed a deeper meaning or layer to the end. It did not feel like an end to this story really.
But having said that I did enjoy reading this book - even though it has plenty of horrific scenes. I just really love Iain Banks writing style. His magical atmospheric writing and storytelling which makes the landscape and characters come to life, but also his almost humerous dry sentences about quite gory events. Even though the main characters are very unlikable people, it is still interesting (and not as frustrating) to read the story from their point of view. Overall, I liked this book but I cannot really explain why and I would understand other people dislike to it as well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

tabithalevis's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Lots of animal abuse, and a confusing plot that leaves me with many questions. Finished it in one day so definitely something to quickly get through!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Vomit, and Medical trauma

greycells's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Misogyny

Minor: Forced institutionalization

Gothic Horror