Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

City of Thieves by David Benioff

4 reviews

mayaep's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Rape, Torture, Death of parent, Gore, Sexual violence, Violence, War, Cannibalism, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail

novelideea's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Racial slurs, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Violence, Body horror, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Hate crime, Self harm, Misogyny, Rape, Classism, Cursing, Death, Animal death, Confinement, Gore, Gun violence, Child death, Excrement, Religious bigotry, War, Kidnapping, and Sexual violence

seforana's review

dark emotional informative tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Death, Blood, Body horror, Gun violence, Violence, War, and Torture

Minor: Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Rape

smashmo's review

adventurous dark funny hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced

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

3.0

It seems like everyone gives this book a 4 star or higher, so I'm wondering what I missed. The over arching plot about stealing eggs is meh, but once our characters get outside Leningrad, then things get more interesting. The relationship between the two main characters is sweet, and they have a great bromance; Kolya's optimism and liveliness is a treat.

What really detracts from the story here is this 17 year old male virgin gaze. There is just too much of an obsession on getting a woman naked in these pages. Of course I'm aware that this is very accurate to how young men think and behave, but I don't want to read it for 250 pages. I'm also aware that this sort of humor is used by the characters as a coping mechanism for dealing with all the tragic things they are experiencing, but I still wish it had been handled differently. Just not my cup of tea.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death and Body horror

Minor: Rape