Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Playground by Aron Beauregard

123 reviews

verena1811's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

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

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

nikrib's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

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

butterflybitten's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• 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: Child death, Gore, and Incest

Moderate: Body horror, Sexual content, and Blood

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

mythos05's review against another edition

dark funny tense medium-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Blood