Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Children of Paradise by Camilla Grudova

13 reviews

discocaptain's review

dark reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.75

GOD. WHAT A PICTURE. im saying this about a book but its so concerned with film and theatres that i think its apt. horrible, gross and yet so affecting and charming. its giving hollywood new wave. and each chapter title provides you with a free to watch list so get on it watch the red shoes (1948), the last picture show (1971), return to oz (1985) and all the rest. it'll make for an incredible re-read if youre not already as obsessed with film as i apparently am

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Body horror, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Blood, Death, Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Excrement, and Gore

its just a bit fucked up really but its a horror what do u expect

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.

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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. 

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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

your_true_shelf's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Body horror, Blood, and Gore

carlyalynnsia's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Death

kylegibbens's review

dark emotional funny mysterious sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Suicide, Death, Drug use, Vomit, Blood, Alcohol, and Abortion

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. 

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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

katewhite77's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I Think This Book Is Designed For Cinophiles 

Set in cinema this is also a satire on capitalism, corporatism of cinema and the day to day reality of the 9 to 5 grind.

This book is very grotesque throughout and is full of bodily fluid but I think that's in part due to the film references that were completely lost on me. 

I don't think think this book would be to everyone taste. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Drug use, Suicide, Death, Excrement, Self harm, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, Gore, and Mental illness

moa's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Gore, Abortion, Suicide, Vomit, Death, Blood, Violence, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Excrement, Drug use, Dementia, and Alcoholism

minnietimperley's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Excrement, Abortion, and Gore