Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis

38 reviews

michhhs's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

3.75

non so un po' come American Psycho mi sembra un romanzo inconcludente che ti lascia con ma e perché

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Gore, and Blood

pezinho's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

I enjoyed this book way more than I thought I would. Usually, when a book has a cast of characters that I don't find particularly likable it tends to make the book less enjoyable for me, however, this was not the case with The Shards. Despite Bret and his friends being unbearably annoying, the events of the book and pacing really worked to hook me in.

The book would be a lot shorter if it weren't for the extensive descriptions of the Los Angeles traffic system that no one who doesn't live in California cares about or the multiple sex scenes that add nothing to the story. At times, considering Bret is the author, it felt like I was subjected to reading him live his sexual fantasies through the fictional Bret.

The cult storyline also didn't go anywhere and made me wonder why it was even a part of it. It doesn't seem like the Trawler was connected to them in any way, at least from what I took away from the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Drug use, and Gore

readwithharry's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

OH MY GOOD GOD. This book is PHENOMENAL, but needs to come with some serious trigger warnings - if you want a spoiler free description, think of a cross between ‘American Psycho’, ‘The Secret History’, ‘These Violent Delights’, and then add some teenage nihilism, drugs, sex, and private-high-school rich-kid drama. 

Admittedly, there were a few points where I actually had to stop reading, but that comes with reading Bret Easton Ellis. 

Ellis is gifted at describing moments in time, and at capturing a ::feeling::  

This is a complete and utter mindfuck, yes, but if you’re prepared for the dark stuff, i could not recommend this more. I read this pretty much non-stop for 6 days, and my copy of the book is now heavily annotated and highlighted (and drenched with my tears - and my tea when I spilled it in shock). 

Nostalgic, lustful, and extremely powerful - literally couldn’t recommend this more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Drug use, and Sexual content

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

luisa_he's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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, Body horror, Gore, Stalking, and Murder

not_to_day's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Homophobia

Minor: Addiction

aparecium_docx's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

I'm not sure how I feel about this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, and Drug abuse

hannschwarz's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

aristarcodisamo's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Racism, Vomit, Antisemitism, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Outing

clichemarker's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad slow-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

3.5

“Don’t you think he’s probably gay?” Thom stopped. “Don’t you think that’s his real problem?”

Good, but overly long.
He spoils elements of the book at the beginning, but it takes so long to get to them that I completely forgot what he had said.
This feels like a cautionary tale for nosey people. 
The gore is sparse, and happens every hundred pages or so. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Violence, and Alcohol

Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Vomit

fmoffiziell's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol