Reviews tagging 'Torture'

A Certain Hunger, by Chelsea G. Summers

10 reviews

bitchigo's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Cannibalism, and Car accident

Minor: Torture and Toxic friendship

autumngk's review against another edition

challenging dark tense 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? It's complicated

2.75

I honestly don’t know what I was expecting from this book-cannibalism, sure, but the nonlinear format took me by surprise. Something about it felt too reliant on shock value and grotesque tropes, but after all it is a cannibal serial killer. I don’t know if I’m just beginning to be turned off by horror novels, but this one did the trick. There were really great sections, and I mean chapters at a time where the writing was absolutely beautiful and engaging. I wish we got to know more about Dorothy’s life as the prison librarian and how that began to effect her; I can’t tell if my reservations with this book are that if felt too short and heavy/reliant on the gore to tell its story or what! We get this really nice look into her life…..

Spoiler

after she’s adjusted to prison life during their group when the arsonist is telling her story and some of the other women are talking and Dorothy reveals a possible change in her feelings about what she’s done/herself. It’s not worthy of a sequel, just a couple more chapters here and there. While what we’re left with is a complete picture, it felt like there were just some missed opportunities. So many offers were put up in the air by introducing her in the present as working in the library; especially given her relationship with Emma, it felt unfinished in a way. We know so much about her while she’s cannibalizing and murdering these men senselessly, but it feels pointless to still know her while she’s imprisoned and know so little about her in the present. She still has the same voice. She still speaks the same about humanity. What about her changed? if nothing did, why this story? Why now? Just to sell cannibal torture porn?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Car accident, Death, Blood, Toxic relationship, Violence, Cannibalism, Classism, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Stalking, Torture, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Forced institutionalization

ephemeral_remi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Torture, Sexual content, Cannibalism, Cursing, Grief, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Rape and Vomit

Minor: Animal death, Car accident, Misogyny, Alcohol, and Animal cruelty

ly_didi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Gore, Cannibalism, Death, Mental illness, Murder, and Torture

sarahjxde's review against another edition

dark funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Sexual violence, Gore, Murder, Blood, Torture, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Cannibalism

raquelcanread's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Stalking, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Drug use, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

stressedtiredreader's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Torture, and Sexual content

Moderate: Car accident and Sexual assault

hayleyw's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, Death of parent, Antisemitism, Violence, Torture, Rape, Murder, Sexual violence, and Cannibalism

sarabara's review against another edition

Plot lacked conflict and tension. Narrator/protagonist was like a serial killer Mary Sue. Very purple prose. Some great similes and metaphors but there were so many that they slowed down the pace dramatically. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual content, and Torture

paulasnotsosecretdiary's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Dorothy Daniels turns her adoration of food into a career as a food critic and writer. She proudly defies social conventions, engaging in behaviors that other people would consider disgusting and shameful. She is also a proud psychopath and serial killer, admitting to all the ways she uses people, collects information about them to use at her whim, and throws them away without a care. Her appetites are enormous. After tasting everything, a terrible accident presents Dorothy the chance to taste the ultimate forbidden dish: human flesh.

As the story begins, Dorothy recalls the crime that sent her to prison for the remainder of her life. As she serves her sentence, Dorothy writes her autobiography, recounting her youth, including the organic food her mother grew and cooked. Dorothy recalls her food writing career throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including the dishes she tastes, people she sleeps with, and the information she gathers on every one of her lovers and bosses. When she loses her job during the 2008 recession and has to turn to freelancing for internet websites in her 50s, something breaks a bit more inside Dorothy. 

You may ask, why should I read this book; the narrator is a monster. Dorothy Daniels is smart, funny, and charming; she is a fantastic storyteller. The novel reads as though sitting down to dinner with a fascinating and terrifying guest. It also offers readers insight into how the loss of print publications, especially glossy magazines with incredible photography and long-format articles, impacted writers, and how readers lost something when these publications folded or went online. The story is fast-paced and filled with action, featuring lovingly detailed descriptions and language, resulting from a great deal of time and care in its writing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Excrement, Gore, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence