Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Deliver Me by Elle Nash

3 reviews

literary_fey's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

 

When I saw this book at my local library, I was very intrigued by the premise. This book is not for the squeamish or faint of heart; it is a dark book, which is what I signed up for. Animal death, pregnancy, and insects abound, there were times I had to put the book down and take a break from it. 

When I picked up the book, my expectation was that it was going to be some sort of body horror-monster pregnancy story. Think the French film Titane meets the vibe of Gillian Flynn. I thought it was going to be revealed that Daisy, the main character, was going to give birth to some insect baby. That's not what happened in the book: instead, the climax felt very, well, anticlimactic. This sounds awful to say, but the plot of "woman steals baby while inside the mother's womb" has been done plenty of times in media. I was hoping for something different. 

Another reviewer pointed out that the way the author portrayed the people in the book was a little bizarre. The characters are from rural Missouri and are poor. They're constantly described as ugly and dirty. Fatness is also seen as a disgusting thing for the characters to be. Can we unpack that? Why are you describing these characters with such vitriol? If you're going to really lean into the small town, southern gothic, americana vibe, I think you should at least enjoy and embrace that kind of setting. 

For a literary novel, the characters were extremely one-dimensional and lacking. We get insight as to why Daisy is the way she is, since we're inside her head, but the supporting characters definitely felt lackluster. Her boyfriend is nothing beyond being an ex-con with an insect fetish. Sloane is nothing but Daisy's obsession and subject of her jealousy. Her mother is nothing but a religious woman who hates that her daughter is fat. 

I ultimately gave this book two stars since I did enjoy some aspects of it, but was pretty disappointed overall. The book felt like an absolute fever dream, but not one I particularly enjoyed.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Infertility, Miscarriage, Vomit, Murder, and Pregnancy

hollywobble's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

kassietheresa's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

Honestly, there is so much graphic content in this book. Do not read if you are on the fence (super good book, but also very disturbing).