Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Playground by Aron Beauregard

98 reviews

rantsandreads's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.25

This book was like Squid Game for kids, but if Miss Trunchbull from Matilda was mentally disturbed, took hallucinogens and steroids and ran the whole thing. Enter Geraldine, the book’s grotesque and sadistic antagonist, who takes twisted delight in tormenting children justifiable—in her mind by her own shortcomings in fertility. Her warped sexual fantasies about her mother and those absurdly detailed descriptions of her genitals felt like they were there for pure shock value. I didn’t enjoy those moments—they felt misplaced and like filler designed to push boundaries rather than serve the story. But being a master of splatterpunk, Beauregard knows how to make horror fans squirm like they’ve never squirmethed before. I’ve got to admit, those early sexual descriptions had me internally gagging.

Once past that initial discomfort, the book’s true brilliance comes out. The playground games themselves are brutal, twisted, and absolutely captivating. I couldn’t help but root for the kids, fully absorbed in the brutal portrayal of just how far human nature can descend when fueled by survival, competition, and madness. Yet, amidst all that darkness, the goodness and innocence of children still managed to shine through. Beauregard perfectly balances characters you love to hate, ones who redeem themselves (Rock had me in a chokehold), and others who absolutely break your heart.

Some of the descriptions were so ridiculous that I started to wonder if they were part of an intentional, darkly satirical style. I wasn’t bothered by it, though—if anything, it added a strange kind of humor that I actually appreciated. Whether intentional or not, it made the book feel even more memorable.

Despite my gripes with the early demented, sexually charged scenes, Playground is a stomach-churning, page-turning journey. There were moments that had me gasping, unable to stop reading until sleep forced me to. It’s the kind of horror that pushes boundaries and takes you to places you don’t want to go, but you can’t stop yourself from enjoying the ride. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Torture, and Vomit

radtj's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

2.5

This book was fucked.

I really feel like the incestuous shit masturbation and graphic nasty pussy descriptions weren't necessary, even if they provided a shock factor. Geraldine could’ve gotten one paragraph of backstory and I would have been 1000x happier reading this. 

I was really reading this book more for the parents and kids povs and less.. weird nazi works with shit eating old rich nasty woman who abuses Rock.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Genocide and Infertility

callofthewild's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

rosaelia's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infertility, Pedophilia, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

Minor: Gun violence, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Vomit

contemptment's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-paced

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

4.0

If you can get past the uncomfortably long and weird

incestuous poop masturbation

scene, the endless violence and bloodshed that the children in this book endure, as well as Beauregard’s nauseatingly detailed description of old lady vagina (that I will never be able to get out of my head by the way, thanks Aron!), you will find a book that is about the effects of prolonged trauma and the constant itching fantasy of breaking free from the metaphorical leash that abusers tie to the necks of their victims. In my opinion this book was never about the children, but rather Rock, the stoic, muscly man who deeply fears the decrepit old woman who has abused him in every way possible his entire life. The way Beauregard describes Rock’s thoughts on his abusive situation were so relatable to me, despite having a completely different situation. It honestly made me wonder if the author had trauma of his own. Rock was honestly the best character I have seen in a book as graphic and over the top as this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, and Incest

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Alcoholism, Homophobia, and Vomit

abryan12's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

If children had to endure a Saw film. Playground is disturbing yet intoxicating. At times I hated what I read but I could not bring myself to put it down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

pabsies's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

2.5

Some descriptions of events and the antagonist were so over-the-top that at times I couldn‘t take it seriously. Nonetheless, i found myself not being able to put the book down. Of course, it was incredibly gorey, I mean look at the cover of the book, that was to be expected. Did the gore add anything? No, not really. It felt kind of unnecessary even, kids being in life-threatening situations already gets the message across imo, but I suppose it wouldn‘t be splatterpunk otherwise. I pictured Geraldine as Izma from Emperor‘s New Groove and just couldn’t take her or her motive seriously at all. It just seemed too comical.
That being said, I actually loved the underlying story of it all. Rock‘s background story, pent up rage that eventually reaches its climax and kind of a heartbreaking ending is honestly all this book needed. Him seeing himself in little Donnie was adorable and soul crushing.
I do not regret reading this book at all. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism

misterushi's review

adventurous dark sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

No thanks to the Geraldine parts. Character builds were surprising!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

latati711's review against another edition

The first couple of chapters were good I read past all of the parts that people were complaining about all over tiktok and I thought the book had some potential... 188 pages into the book and I just can't finish it because it's boring to me. Like the author is good at writing when it comes to gore and stuff of that nature but it's the other parts of the book besides the gore that did not pique my interest. For example, the overly detailed description of the characters was literally snoozefest there was a whole chapter that delved into the backstory of the male Nazi scientist that I just skimmed through because I didn't care. I just wanted more action and less explanations.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Excrement, and Vomit

Minor: Incest, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Abandonment

readerofdafuk's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I thoughtbit was a good book. Aron has a way of words and alliteration that sometimes feels too much with what's going on. Especially when he wants to gross people out. That page 40 shit is no joke and I did legit vomit I hated that shit

It reminds me of the death game animes I would watch so the puzzles and traps were very creative but damn brutal. It was an entertaining read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail