Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann

25 reviews

caitlin_bookchats's review against another edition

adventurous informative medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Racism, Medical content, Cannibalism, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Colonisation

This book contains the most gruesome description of scurvy I have ever read. Also, cw: survival cannibalism, animal death

the men kill and eat a pet dog

mcbrantley's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense slow-paced

4.0

Well handled and harrowing, this narrative take on a true 18th century shipwreck and mutiny is a riveting read after the first half. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Medical content, Cannibalism, and Colonisation

bergha1998's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

3.75

It was a very interesting and compelling story. It definitely helped that he focused on some of the main characters who had told their stories in books. I enjoyed it a lot. 

“You miss his form, and the sound of his voice, for habit had made them almost necessary to you, and each of your senses feels the loss.”

“Empires preserve their power with the stories that they tell, but just as critical are the stories they don’t—the dark silences they impose, the pages they tear out.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

hufflepuffbiologybuff's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.25

A great read for those who are interested in sea travel during the 1740s. 
I did get a little lost in the terminology concerning the ship. It is a new language to me: the parts of the ship, ship etiquette, and roles of the people on the ship. Grann does explain the etiquette and the roles of the people a bit, but I became lost sometimes. 
Still an interesting story! This book may be more for someone who is into naval/military stories. 
I am glad I gave this book a go though! I would be interested in watching a documentary about the Wager!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Medical trauma

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, Murder, and War

kellyofcali's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative tense slow-paced

4.0

An interesting book on a very specific topic - like all his books, it's quite well done, though the topic didn't always appeal to me as much as some of his others. Still, it's pretty incredible (and horrifying) what these men went through, and something I'd truly never heard of before.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Gun violence, Violence, Cannibalism, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body horror and Confinement

laura_nel13's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Suicide, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Classism

ekcd_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

knkoch's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative medium-paced

3.75

I found this worthwhile and informative, if bleak in its reminders of the way naval stories like this are shaped by the huge and destructive forces of imperialism and ruthless extraction of resources. All the human folly that went into conscripting hundreds of deathly ill men to run ships that take thousands of century-old trees to build just to attempt needlessly difficult cape passages, only to shipwreck in an extremely challenging climate and

waste the lives of hundreds of people from disease and starvation!

I really liked that David Grann gave great context into the Indigenous tribes the men from this ship interacted with and the impact that naval expeditions had on them and all others in South and North America in the eighteenth century especially. It felt like he was resetting the image of journeys like these, moving away from glory and adventure into the grinding hardship, weaknesses of leadership, imperial greed, racist assumptions of superiority/inferiority, and endless jockeying between major European empires like Spain and England. Grann developed the historical characters well, and clearly established how naval honor codes, class, and rank influenced the events at sea and land. Shocked to learn that

the value of the seized Spanish galleon, then the greatest single event war bounty seized, was dwarfed by the full millions-of-pounds cost of the entire expedition to seize it.

And yet, we can't forget that history can be so easily spun into self-congratulatory stories that flatter rather than invite critical examination. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Terminal illness, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Racism, Xenophobia, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Cannibalism

Eating disorder: Much discussion of starvation, but not sure what TW may fit better.

jfaw89's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Violence, Cannibalism, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

ahoyitsjoy's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative tense medium-paced

3.0

This book was clearly meticulously researched and features many quotes from firsthand accounts. The events are delivered in a clear and unbiased manner. 

However... I just don't think this was my kind of book. I've seen a lot of people recommend this book to those who loved Endurance, as I did, but The Wager is significantly more grim in a way that didn't make me want to read more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Racism, Torture, and Colonisation

Minor: Slavery