Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

7 reviews

eatingbrains's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

1.75

The good:  I enjoyed the UberChat.  I felt that right when that was introduced a different ending could have spawned that turned into a lighthearted rom-com and I like to imagine that.

The bad:  I knew pretty early on that this was not going to be a favorite.  I don't read a lot of thrillers in general but I enjoy sci-fi so I figured I would give it a shot.  I couldn't stand the main character.  And thus, the book was doomed in my eyes.  The pacing was jumpy, and the plot was predictable (as in, I guessed what really happened in the first chapter and the main character didn't figure it out until the ~50% mark).  There was some promise for some thoughtful introspection but the approach was heavy-handed at best.  Some of the descriptions were vivid and others were flat out whacky.

I don't know if I will try another book by the author, but I don't think I was the intended audience for this work so who knows what the future holds.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Body horror, Classism, Confinement, Torture, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, Self harm, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gore, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexism, Violence, Alcoholism, Cancer, Car accident, Child death, Infidelity, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

megan_wy's review

emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Spoiler

Wow wow wow!!!! Just finished this book and I flew through it. That’s saying a lot too because I’m a very slow reader. I was really wanting to try a different genre of book after reading a few too many cheesy romance novels. This book easily hooked me and has me wanting to read more thriller / sci-fi novels. The story of Jason and the endless underlying meanings and interpretations of this book will keep you up at night questioning life. I had to stop and think a few times throughout the book to try and make logical sense out of some of the things that were happening. That’s part of the beauty of this novel I think, you really don’t know if the end is real Jason? Considering there’s a new version of Jason for every single choice he makes even AFTER the initial switch in the beginning, who’s to prove that the Jason in the end is the “real” Jason 🤯🤯🤯 

This story is just so different. It’s so intensely unique that it opened up so many new frames of mind for me in an amazing and analytical way. Although some parts are deeply confusing if you try to think to understand all the science and logistics behind it, the overall meaning and plot can still be easily followed. Each version of Jason wanted one thing, a happy life with someone he loved. That someone, even in the version where he left her for his career, was Daniela. He essentially had the “perfect” life in Jason2’s world, but we know that isn’t true. Jason2 was unhappy dreaming about a perfect life with Daniela and a family. I am so speechless over this book. I would highly recommend it!! Just be prepared to do lots of deep thinking and questioning of our reality that is “life.”

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Mental illness, Blood, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, and Death

katiefurms's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Not only is this an incredible concept for a story, but it is so phenomenally well written that i could not put it down. Absolutely incredible book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Cursing, Death, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Drug use, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Murder

Minor: Gun violence, Infidelity, Pandemic/Epidemic, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Addiction, Body horror, Car accident, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Mental illness, Medical content, Pregnancy, Vomit, Dysphoria, Gore, Suicide, and Violence

ottercorg's review

adventurous dark inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Looking for an introduction to the sci-fi genre, an Internet list pointed me to this one. 

I enjoyed the main characters and plot, felt that Crouch told the story well. The reason I've avoided sci-fi for so long is that my brain is not good at comprehending the science part. But this book made it palatable and mostly easy to understand - which made me enjoy it even more! Only a few times did risk going over my head. 

Overall, an interesting tale that kept me invested, and not just because I had nothing better to do. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Body horror, Car accident, Death, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Kidnapping, Blood, Gun violence, Death of parent, Gore, and Stalking

anntharai's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

This book took me days to stop talking about, I think I convinced about twelve people to read it. It's such a cool take on the multi-dimensional thriller with some aspects I hadn't seen before. I am proud to say that I saw TWO plot things coming and that makes me happy. Because of this book, Blake Crouch is pretty much on my auto-read list now. 

There are several realities that just rip your frooken heart out and stamp on it, it leaves you with questions and arse backwards arguments you want to have with the characters and just. Wow. Yes. Do. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Animal death, Body horror, Stalking, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Medical trauma, Death, and Child death

shreek's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Such a cool concept! The more you think about the whole

Spoiler

alternate reality/alternate self/multiverse thing,

the more your mind gets blown haha. I like that it’s also rooted in the very common phenomenon where people wonder how their lives would be if they did one thing differently. It makes the whole story seem more grounded and real.

Spoiler

I also didn’t see the whole multiple-Jason’s twist coming, so that was super cool, very interesting!

 

The story read like an action movie, and the writing was very to-the-point, which is nice pacing wise, but I did find that the structure a bit choppy at times. The style also makes it a little hard to get attached to any characters or anything like that. I tend to prefer a bit more of a character-driven perspective, so maybe that’s why I felt like something was missing. There was definitely some character exploration, but it was very much plot-driven IMO. 

Overall, a cool read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Violence

Moderate: Death

I wanted to add a warning for mentions of contagion and sickness

emilianordland's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, and Death