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sailormollie's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
While the imagery and prose is beautiful, the book itself was about 130 pages too long. The last half drug, despite many of the questions being answered. There seemed to be five possible climaxes/endings which felt unnecessary.
TW: gruesome dog deaths.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, Animal death, and Pedophilia
cyanide_latte's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Getting into Clive Barker's work has been an interesting journey, and of his work, this is the first novel of his I decided to tackle. If my understanding is correct, I think this was actually his first full-length novel? Please, somebody correct me if that's inaccurate. Either way, it was definitely an earlier one, and it shows in how this book is paced. (At times it feels like there are three false endings, almost like he had originally intended to write this as a connected set of short stories, which I do feel he excels at.)
Generally speaking, I think I had low expectations for a Faustian novel, but Barker managed to surprise me and subvert my expectations here! I enjoyed this a lot, even if it took me the better part of months to get through it. I will say this isn't for the faint of heart though; definitely look up trigger warnings before you read.
Generally speaking, I think I had low expectations for a Faustian novel, but Barker managed to surprise me and subvert my expectations here! I enjoyed this a lot, even if it took me the better part of months to get through it. I will say this isn't for the faint of heart though; definitely look up trigger warnings before you read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Classism, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Torture, Drug abuse, Excrement, and Gore
Moderate: Gaslighting, Misogyny, Body shaming, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Sexual content, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Fatphobia, and Infidelity
Minor: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, and Incest
sandstorm23's review
dark
slow-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? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Body horror, and Pedophilia
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