Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Woom: An Extreme Psychological Horror Novel by Duncan Ralston

33 reviews

quietlex's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-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? Yes

This was pure shit. I bought this because I saw a tiktok video claiming that it was a really good horror novel, and now I’m disappointed to have wasted my money. The “Extreme Horror Novel” label on the cover really means “disgusting sexual assault” in a bunch of different ways. I’ve always hated “horror” that ends up being just a sick man’s sexual fantasies/traumas. You can write a good horror that incorporates the good and bad of sex, without having the entire book revolving around the gore and other atrocities that can happen. The title “Woom” is accurate since the thing is chock full of vagina! Each chapter has some horrible thing happening to a poor woman’s body. There’s absolutely nothing scary about this book, it’s just flat out gross. The story telling is awfully drab and boring, with vile things being described blandly in order to grab your attention. It doesn’t work. The only good thing about this book is that it is so short. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

shayyyy31's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Disturbingly dark. Not at all what I expected — but heinous nonetheless. This nontraditional tale of horror will definitely fuck up your brain. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

our_bookish_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

This was truly one demented, excessively gory and odious, yet unique book. I don't think I'll ever be able to read this book again. I really enjoyed it, i think. 😅 I like to think i have a pretty strong stomach. I've seen many a thing in my life, but NEVER before has a book made me so nauseated that I physically turned the book from my face and looked away from it to process and not vomit on my book and bed 🤢... but just like true horror, it drew me back in. 

This was a "read at your own pace" buddy read, with three IG friends. We shall see what they think as well!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Infertility, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

ekmook's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

erica_reads_things's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-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

3.5

Hooooo boy is this one a ride. Very graphic, disturbing, but unlike some other horror novellas that I've read recently, the plot and point of this one was actually interesting and kept me wanting to read and find out what the fuck was going on. Lots of trigger warnings (I always make sure to add those). But this was actually an interesting read for a gore story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism and Toxic relationship

Minor: Fatphobia, Infertility, and Grief

reading_binosaur's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

2.0

I literally cannot give it any more stars. I didn't hate it, but definitely didn't love it. Really fucky

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

wildcitrus's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Abortion, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Infertility, Misogyny, Racism, and Grief

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Trafficking, and Pregnancy

emily_vest's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

3.0

That was some weird shit. A little predictable if I’m being honest. Although I didn’t guess the big twist at the end. Weird. And gross.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Abortion, and Injury/Injury detail

cursivewolf's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

Had a mix of humor and horror. I had to put the book down at one chapter, which was arguably worse than the others (aside from the ending). You definitely need a strong stomach for this one, but it wasn’t as horrific as I thought (still VERY horrific, though.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infertility, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail