Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Shards: Roman by Bret Easton Ellis

42 reviews

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

poubelleboi's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

Ho letto "Le schegge" di Bret Easton Ellis. 😳 In realtà ho ascoltato l'audiolibro e non scherzo quando dico che in un giorno ne ho ascoltato un terzo, anche se dura 26 ore (ha più di 700 pagine). Avevo già sentito tante opinioni positive quindi mi aspettavo che fosse bello ma veramente non riuscivo a smettere. 

In questa autofiction, Bret è alle superiori e durante il suo ultimo anno cose strane cominciano ad accadere e si scopre che un serial killer è attivo nella zona. Bret ne diviene ossessionato e sospetta del suo nuovo compagno di classe. È una storia con tanta tensione e tanta violenza ma una delle cose intriganti è il fatto che il narratore non è affidabile per cui ogni lettore può interpretare la storia a modo proprio. Ha tanti trigger warning ma io l'ho divorato e lo consiglio.

È stato interessante come l'autore ha intessuto l'omofobia nel racconto.

L'omofobia interiorizzata è un motore per Bret per fare o non fare determinate cose; la paura di essere scoperto lo porta a non denunciare ciò che sa, a non condividere la registrazione delle torture su Matt. Questo finisce per esacerbare tutte le sue paranoie. Chissà se sarebbe potuta finire diversamente se solo Bret avesse pensato di poter essere attratto dagli uomini senza giudizi esterni. Perché alla fine, i pensieri omofobi che ha non sono che echi di ciò che qualcun altro gli ha detto nel corso della storia. Per cui l'omofobia è stata come un personaggio che teneva sotto ricatto costante il nostro protagonista.

Quello che mi ha tenuto incollato, comunque, è stata la scrittura di Bret Easton Ellis e ammetto che non avevo letto niente di lui prima, ma di certo adesso sono intrigato e voglio leggere altro, quindi consigliatemi altro di suo. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Medical content, Outing, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Suicide attempt and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

syellico's review against another edition

I got distracted by other books, but I may go back to this at some point.  Even now (01/2024) I can still feel the sense of place and the feelings it evoked.  Could have done without all the graphic sex, but I skipped over that.  I am interested to see if there really is a serial killer.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Drug use, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

annieecusack'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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Injury/Injury detail

crazedocelot's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

giuliamrll's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, and Kidnapping

raeisreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Listening to the audiobook production of this book made it difficult to exist in my real life simultaneously because of how sucked into the tense madness of serial killer stalked 1980s LA. Provocative, intense, and truly gripping. Don’t stop once you start but don’t read before bed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Murder, Outing, and Alcohol

disguisedposer's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

gatsbyonabudget's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol