Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh

5 reviews

whoisrois's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

So so so good. (obviously) 

I enjoyed the self contained short story chapters outside of the main plot best

A lot of characters to keep straight, I keep mixing 2nd prize, Davey, Marty and Tommy up 😮‍💨

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Violence, Excrement, Trafficking, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Sexism, and Religious bigotry

bookmuva's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I loved this book so much more than I originally thought. It took me a bit to get used to the way it’s written in Scots/English but it added more to the book. Some parts were super out of left field and hard to read, but all in all an interesting story. It was hard to keep up with the characters, but once you get them in order you see how all their lives intersect. Another book I would potentially read again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood

Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

zoinkie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

quinnviv's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

Was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I went into it knowing that it could be a difficult read due to the dialect however that was my main draw to the book for research purposes. What I initially set off on when starting the book changed entirely once I found myself in the world and with the characters, who I didn't necessarily like but seemed to care for in some way.

The way Welsh differentiates the characters point of views through the change in writing style and accent was marvellous and I loved the working class perspective on big topics. I would've loved to see more of Stevie's and Nina's character as they presented an interesting outsiders look into the depravity of the scene that Renton has found himself in. My only gripe with the book was that at times I found myself disappointed in the disappearance of story threads but the disjointed structure of the book seemed to reflect the headspace of its characters which I appreciated.

This structure of vignettes coming from multiple peoples perspectives rather than a fully cohesive story was reminiscent of sitting around a table with old friends and telling the highlights/lowlights of the past year. It treated the reader as smart, engaging with topics of systematic injustice for the working class in Britain with an educated but genuine voice of the lower class, as well as forcing you to infer gaps within the story.  The moments where the perspective was from a woman showed an appreciation for their resilience when not only are they systematically oppressed but also poorly treated by the misogynistic men in the story. 

Practically, reading this book allowed me to process the writing much easier as well as improved my Scottish accent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcoholism

meepymorpy's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy