Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Strange Bird by Jeff VanderMeer

9 reviews

scytheria's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Torture

Moderate: Grief and Confinement

Minor: Child abuse

cryosphinx's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Body horror

rhrgrt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

It gets rough in the middle but that ending… whooo boy. I’m sorry I ever doubted you, Jeff

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

valjeanval's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

A beautiful extension of the Borne universe. It’s Vandermeer at his best with weird and wonderful prose and complex perspective taking. While it’s mostly peripheral to the original novel, I wouldn’t read it without having read Borne. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Torture, Violence, Animal death, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, and Medical trauma

bedtimesnack's review against another edition

challenging mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.25

This story was heartbreaking and thought-provoking. It challenged me to think about animals in a different way. The story might stand on its own okay, but it's meant as a companion novella to Borne. I would read Borne before this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Cannibalism and Torture

cursivewolf's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

Absolutely beautiful. I adore the Strange Bird. A gorgeous tragic creature. Weeping towards the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Animal death, Body horror, Torture, Violence, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Child death, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Stalking, Medical trauma, Medical content, and War

fableborealis's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Body horror

maryellen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, and Death

carmexfiend's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

A good and short read. It wasn't as compelling or hitting as Borne but was still enjoyable. You learn more about the world and see it from a new perspective. Characters and events from the Borne are shown and some gaps are filled. Overall, what I liked the most about Borne was how attached I got to the characters and this book doesn't really have that going for it. I'd still recommend it if you enjoyed Borne or like to read non-human POVs.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Medical trauma, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Moderate: Body horror and Torture

There are several scenes where sapient animals are experimented on and one scene where a character is surgically mutilated without anesthesia.