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mdarkwah99's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Blood, Excrement, and Murder
draiochta's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, and Alcohol
Minor: Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Abortion, and Pregnancy
lay_kone's review against another edition
2.0
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Torture, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Homophobia and Rape
hauntedantiqueshop's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Self harm, and Alcohol
Minor: Rape and Sexual content
leirben's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and War
lancemama's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Excrement and Vomit
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Police brutality
atmathis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
After a promising prologue, the novel quickly loses its luster. The story feels rushed, peppering in just enough backstory to set the stage, then rushing quickly into the meat of the story. The poetic prose observed in Barker's other works is largely lacking here, as characters are quickly shuttled from place to place to keep the plot moving. Honestly, for all his trying, the description of Hell is just boring.
And these characters, several of which the reader has come to know over decades of other loosely-related stories, feel wrong. The way Harry speaks and acts feels out of character with the detective we followed through TGaSS and Everville, almost as if the experience and lessons learned in those books are just thrown out the window. In place of the mysteries of
At the end, the story feels rushed, and ultimately unsatisfying. The little character growth seen feels unearned, and I don't feel like I care about them any more than I did before picking up the book. If anything, the characters I picked up the book for I ended up liking less.
I've read that the novel was whittled down from a much larger (1000+ page) manuscript, and potentially ghostwritten after the opening chapter. I believe it, and think the work suffered greatly for it.
Moderate: Torture
islabjb's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Torture, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Rape, Excrement, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Homophobia, and Abortion
existential_dreadnought's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.0
The body horror, while expected in this, just dragged on and felt pointless much of the time.
I found myself just hoping it would be over soon.
It wasn't awful, but simply didn't hold a candle to the author's early works.
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Torture, Violence, Excrement, and Cannibalism
seanhussey's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail