Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Troop by Nick Cutter

30 reviews

geneius's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.75

this was fucking nasty. holy fucking shit. HUGE trigger warning for animal death and animal cruelty. like…. huge. i had to skip pages and skim read parts because i know myself and knew this book wasn’t worth sacrificing my mental health. i would’ve rated it a bit higher had those sections not been in the book, i understand backstory but jesus we get it! overall though this was great, the author’s writing style and the blurbs of interviews and news clippings and emails was really cool, i love when authors do that. i loved the kiddos (mostly… shelley can go fuck himself) and i loved the premise and the scenery despite some passages making me gag, even with me not being easily bothered by gore. this also made me want to  re-read lord of the flies, lol. i went into this book 90% blind and i’d say do the same if you feel like you want to read this. would i recommend this to just anyone though? absolutely not! fuck you nick cutter, i’m gonna think about this book and process everything for a long while!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Self harm, Body horror, Child death, Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Animal death

Moderate: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, and Fatphobia

duke_elligos's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

It was a bit difficult for me to get into the story at first, I'm not sure I entirely like how Nick Cutter writes. I don't love how much animal harm is in the book. I almost DNF it, but I kept reading and I ended up hooked by the tense atmosphere and the character interactions. I really started to care about (most of) the characters and found that I needed to keep reading.
It's a messed up story, but that's exactly what I signed up for.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Pandemic/Epidemic, Body horror, Gore, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, and Self harm

Moderate: Abandonment, Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Medical content

alitas123's review

dark medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Self harm, Violence, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Vomit

smolhandsdan's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Death, Gore, Animal death, Child death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Body horror, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Child abuse, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Self harm, Violence, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, and Torture

rat_leoo's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, Body horror, Pandemic/Epidemic, Self harm, Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child death, Child abuse, Confinement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Vomit

mewpasaurus's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Normally, I'd be keeping (and re-reading) any book I rate this highly, however, Nick Cutter's The Troop is an exception; it's too gruesome and descriptive when it comes to wanton animal cruelty. It's incredibly well written and engaging and it definitely does body horror well (something I find hard to find in written works), but I just don't care to re-read accounts of squishy, gross torture of animals and the whiny, teenage narratives of the main characters.

If you like body horror, you'll probably find this is a good/fast read. It's also worth noting that while the characters aren't necessarily likeable, they are not two dimensional and do seem to be complex in the way I would say most pre-teens/teenagers tend to be, which made it more believable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Vomit, Child death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Animal death, Homophobia, Murder, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Violence, Animal cruelty, Fatphobia, Gore, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, and Death

bites_of_books's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I buddy read this with a friend and I'm very glad that I did because I needed to talk about it with someone as I read certain parts of this book. We follow a group of boys and their scout leader as they face the horrors of someone showing up at their camp with some strange illness. The things that happen in the cabin and then in the woods are brutal and really make the kids do things that no one should ever have to do. Some of the kids try their best to act rationally while others... well, they choose to do things differently. I will not say much because this book should be experienced without knowing too much about what's happening. 
Please check content warnings, do not eat while eating, and just read with care. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Violence, Bullying, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Self harm, Torture, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, and Confinement

rosaelia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wow, this one was absolutely amazing.
I dropped (not DNF'd; I'll pick it back up eventually) Cows for this one. And boy oh boy, am I glad that I did.

I grew to love

the last character, Max.

The ending was somewhat confusing, though?

Did Max end up actually infected? If so, how? Did the worms stay dormant and hidden inside of him somehow?

Anyway, it was a fabulous read! Sort of a slow start once it focuses on the boys, but it was very worth it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Gore, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Fatphobia, Death, Self harm, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Eating disorder, Child death, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Torture, and Mental illness

Moderate: Cursing and Vomit

Minor: Excrement and Alcohol

silverwings95's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Confinement, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical content, Suicide, Body shaming, Bullying, Gore, Murder, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Child death

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Confinement, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Cursing, Mental illness, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Excrement

that_cow_girl's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This book simultaneously disgusted me and broke my heart. It didn’t take long for things to start happening and then it just kept coming. This book literally wormed its way into my head and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It also referenced Anne of Green Gables twice which is my favorite book, and I thought it was hilarious that THIS was the book it was referenced in. I loved the characters of the Scouts. Each boy was so unique and fascinating. I DID have to skip the part about

Shelley killing his mom’s cat. I can handle a lot of gore and all that, but cats and dogs I can’t handle. I also sobbed my eyes out at the part with the turtle.

if you like nasty books, consider this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Medical trauma, Cursing, Fatphobia, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Police brutality, Torture, Animal death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Gaslighting, Self harm, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Child death, Eating disorder, Confinement, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Abandonment, Gore, Grief, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship