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jankavdm's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book follows a woman who starts her job at a cinema at the beginning of the book. It follows her challenges that she faces in her workplace, her relationships with her coworkers, the problems that the cinema faces, and lots of love & death.
Honestly, I found this book quite hard to listen to (listened to this book). It was only short, and thank god for that. It made me feel icky and gross, like I was too covered in sticky popcorn physically and emotionally as the main character often is. Thats why I think it's an excellent book, but it will not improve your mood. I read this in the shortest amount of time i've ever read a book, reading for hours at a time just because of how my last couple of days have turned out. That is probably why it made me feel the way it did, because I had spent a lot of time immersed in the book.
In short, this booked was fucked up, and emotional. Feels a bit like too fucked up? So people in the cinema were completely exploited, and this wasn't really discussed for a while of the book, but at the end things changed and my eyes were opened to what happens when something gets taken over by someone who doesn't care, the big chain cinema. Even though the employees were barely making enough to live, they all would've preferred to have the cinema go back to what it was before the big chain came in. It is quite gritty.
Honestly, I found this book quite hard to listen to (listened to this book). It was only short, and thank god for that. It made me feel icky and gross, like I was too covered in sticky popcorn physically and emotionally as the main character often is. Thats why I think it's an excellent book, but it will not improve your mood. I read this in the shortest amount of time i've ever read a book, reading for hours at a time just because of how my last couple of days have turned out. That is probably why it made me feel the way it did, because I had spent a lot of time immersed in the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Pregnancy, Death, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Suicide, Vomit, Alcoholism, Blood, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury
danibeetle's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Children of Paradise is brimming with film references, and while I have far from seen all the ones mentioned, they really added to the tone of this book. By far my most loved character was The Paradise Cinema itself, and it’s whale mouth that swallows our protagonist -and us- whole. As the already fragile seams of the cinema come apart during the second half of the book, we see this destruction replicated in its cast of strange workers. This really drove home that there was a clostrophobic and even biological link between the space and its residents. There were moments this novella fell short for me, mostly in its most intense moments, which felt like they ended too quickly. I could see this being purposeful on Grudova’s part though, as each time a horrific incident occurs, it’s always seemingly too fast for the characters to act in time. Overall this was a certified weird, gross, fun little read. The setting brought me a lot of joy, and has me itching to sit in a (hopefully less filthy) cinema chair asap.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Vomit, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Abortion, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Excrement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Gore, Drug use, Death, Addiction, and Sexual content
frankieclc's review
5.0
This book is absolutely not for everyone, it's grotesque and made me feel physically unwell at several points but I literally couldn't put it down? and I'd absolutely read it again? wild
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, and Suicide
Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, and Vomit
aliceintheuk4's review
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
A truly revolting psychological parody into the world of pretentious film nerds, zero hour contracts and major corporations and the jobsworths that work for them.
The narrating character at the start is pathetic, weak willed and sympathy inducing, surrounded by weird, acidic film buffs. As she is drawn into their world, and the world of the old fashioned cinema they work in, she appears to slowly lose her grip on reality and really start to fit in with the motley band of strange supporting characters. When the cinema is bought by a huge company things start to fall apart at a rapid pace and the narrators whole shakily built world comes falling down around her.
The narrating character at the start is pathetic, weak willed and sympathy inducing, surrounded by weird, acidic film buffs. As she is drawn into their world, and the world of the old fashioned cinema they work in, she appears to slowly lose her grip on reality and really start to fit in with the motley band of strange supporting characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Alcohol, Mental illness, Abortion, Alcoholism, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, and Death
jennikreads's review
dark
fast-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Suicide, Drug abuse, Drug use, Abortion, and Death
snazzyrhombus's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
i was recommended this by my gf because she said it was amazing - at first and even half way through i wasn't super convinced of the hype, the first half is very slow paced and the whole book you essentially live alongside the main character while she works at this cinema, meeting and getting to know the people there. at first i thought nothing super noteable was going to happen throughout the entire book, it was just a slice of life style thing, but then some big events start happening around halfway and the story takes such a dark and gorey turn. from gross customers to gruesome events this book has quite a lot of disgusting elements honestly which was quite interesting.
there are a lot of random horrifying events that are never explained though, kind of frustrating but a cool touch e.g. the other screen room with the dead naked man in it like what the hell was goinf on there
the last handful of chapters go so so fast especially in comparison to the rest of the book but i think it works well considering it's representative of the job they all cared for completely transforming into something awful after iris died and really makes the run up to the finale quite gripping.
i loved the writing style, despite a lot of gross and gorey details so much of it is phrased so beautifully especially near the end where she imagines cutting down the chandelier and compares it to a big release of tears
something i found kind of weird that may not be intentional is that the main character (and therefore me as the reader) felt so lonely, even when she made friends with and hung out with the other staff lots, and was sleeping with paolo a lot, you're always so in her head that she feels quite dissociated and isolated she always seemed to be talking about herself in the present and other people in the past which made her seem super disconnected.
idk if the author was trying to make a point about SOCIETY or just trying to write a whacky book but i do feel like it paints a horrifying picture of the capitalisation of small businesses and how it affects people within the business which is interesting but also extremely sad
i didn't expect the ending to be quite so sad either, kind of leaves you feeling a bit depressed when you finish it honestly, depressed and shocked lol
there are a lot of random horrifying events that are never explained though, kind of frustrating but a cool touch
the last handful of chapters go so so fast especially in comparison to the rest of the book but i think it works well
i loved the writing style, despite a lot of gross and gorey details so much of it is phrased so beautifully
something i found kind of weird that may not be intentional is that the main character (and therefore me as the reader) felt so lonely, even when
idk if the author was trying to make a point about SOCIETY or just trying to write a whacky book but i do feel like it paints a horrifying picture of the capitalisation of small businesses and how it affects people within the business which is interesting but also extremely sad
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Drug use, Drug abuse, Vomit, Murder, and Suicide
blymanor's review
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abortion, Suicide, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, and Body shaming
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Pregnancy
zoebaillie's review
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Death, and Suicide
Moderate: Vomit, Alcohol, Blood, Excrement, and Drug abuse
katerina_l's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Vomit, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Excrement, Alcoholism, Blood, Abortion, Addiction, Body horror, and Death
blklagoon's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
4.5
Maybe it’s the former disgusting-Edinburgh-cinema-employee in me speaking but this was the most visceral and vivid book I’ve ever read. It hit too close to my own experience, in the most eerie way, until about the last 30 pages. I’m not sure how wide the appeal is as my connection is so personal but the descriptions objectively are equally beautiful and horrific. I need to talk about this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Excrement, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Vomit, Sexual content, Death, Addiction, Alcohol, Abortion, and Blood
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Body horror