Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - Lost Souls

This is very deeply grungy '90s horror, which despite the lavishly (lovingly, one might say) described . . . everything - horror, blood, injury, drugs (so, so many drugs), abuse, rape, nightmares, murder, and so on - within its pages . . . nothing of that feels terribly present. At least for me, most of it was at most disturbing of the cringe and blegh stripe if anything, not the kind of horror that makes an impression or lingers.

I've seen a number of people say they might have liked this book if they'd read it as a teenager, or similar; someone else commented that 30 is too old to start reading Poppy Brite. I'm in my 30s and I can fairly confidently say that I wouldn't have enjoyed this as a teenager either . . . and the heavy content might have been enough to screw with my head more than it did reading it now.

Content Warnings

loz_ange's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.75

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mrouanet_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

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sofipitch's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-paced

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

1.0

I did not like this book. Half of the reason is the long list of trigger warnings I've marked below. The other half is the fact that whenever the author mentioned adult content such as sex/alcohol/drugs, it's done in such excess it seems juvenile. Just the way alcohol is described, I was REALLY surprised that the author was over 21 when this was published because it feels like it was written by a teen who has never experienced most of the things described. The book also has practically no plot, it just follows these characters around but I didn't like them. I peaked at reviews online with ppl raving about this book saying it had wonderful characters and a fast-paced well thought out plot. Like did we even read the same book?

There are also a lot of things about this book that it's less upfront about that haven't aged well, for example this book has really racist undertones, between the way it described POC, historical events, and use of the n-word. Same goes for misogyny. There's also some eating disorders thinking in the way thin bodies, constantly described with bones showing, are overly romanticized, which is why I marked eating disorder under triggers, bc the language in this book might give an impressionable goth teen one. So anything that was a triggering undertone went into the minor trigger category

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acoffeeshopwriter's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

stormywolf's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

2.0

I picked this one up as my first participation in Maven of the Eventide's (aka Elisa Hansen's) Vampire Book Club, wherein she offers her extensive library of as yet unread vampire literature as choices for a monthly vote and subsequent livestreamed discussion. After seeing her book club's discussion of The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampiresfrom a couple months back, I decided a monthly dip into vampire fiction sounded like fun, so requested the upcoming book from the library. Despite my best efforts, the ebook didn't become available to download until the morning of the livestream, so I only managed to read about 45% before the stream started. Looking back, perhaps the universe was trying to warn me...

Read my full review at The Wolf's Den

Overall, this slice-of-life horror story followed some of the most unlikable characters and produced some of the most disturbing content I've ever had the misfortune of reading. I regret reading this book. In fact I think the consensus of the discussion was that most people shouldn't read it. I'd only really recommend it if: you are really into vampires, particularly of The Lost Boys variety; are really into vampires and want to research more into their historical progression as a genre; like mature horror and aren't triggered by any of the warnings I listed above; or have read it before and are wondering what it reads like 30 years later. It's not completely devoid of value, obviously, but there is a lot of context and problematic content that should be addressed before attempting a readthrough. Then again, I'm not very well versed in horror, let alone vampire horror (this literally being my 2nd foray ever), so take my squicky feelings as they are. Just don't say I didn't warn you.

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