Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Cadáver exquisito by Agustina Bazterrica

108 reviews

lavendar_fr0g's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I don’t like dystopians too much, so I kept that in mind as I went in. 

The scenes are gruesome, detailed in a wonderful way but nothing special if you’ve  a reader of extreme horror in general. To people who aren’t used to intense horror and gore, it’ll definitely be a hard one to get through. 

I strangely felt more sad than horrified, but there’s something nice about that- horror doesn’t always have to just scare you; it can invoke other emotions too. The ending surprised me, but looking back at the course of the book- it makes sense. 

Don’t go in expecting for the protagonist to change the world and society (a common trend in dystopians); he’s complicit in it. A participator and even an enforcer. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Blood, and Gore

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Death, Child death, and Death of parent

Minor: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

niamhrowanch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

she has the human look of a domesticated animal?!?!!!?!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Slavery, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Violence, Infertility, Trafficking, Excrement, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Vomit, Blood, Terminal illness, Cannibalism, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, Murder, Rape, and Torture

auburn's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Gore, Child death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Cannibalism, Rape, Slavery, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Death of parent, Death, Body horror, Blood, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Mental illness

j_emerson18's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Traumatizing. Twisted. Dark. Gruesome. Recommend by one of my best friends. She's gonna need to pay for my therapy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Grief, Trafficking, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, Child death, Sexual violence, Animal death, Suicide, Sexual content, Rape, Vomit, Cannibalism, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Murder, Mental illness, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Car accident

q_bert13's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

3.0

A dark, frightening look at a dystopian capitalist world ‘forced’ into cannibalism via an animal-attacking virus. Don’t go into this book looking for likeable characters either. Overall the storyline is interesting, with twists you don’t expect. The book so separated in two parts (with a time jump between them), with part one going much slower than the second half. I feel like the inclusion of a middle chapter, either featuring the main characters or just focusing on the society as a whole would help ‘flesh out’ the story (pun not intended). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual content, Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Blood, Classism, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Infertility, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Rape and Pedophilia

hollerfeller's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism and Gore

Minor: Infidelity, Cursing, and Mental illness

roxiehrt's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

3.0

Wow. This book is depressing. I watch depressing true crime docs for a living and this was tough to get through even for me. Very graphic sections of murder, cannibalism, and dehumanizing behaviors…this is one of the most nihilistic books I’ve ever read. I gave it a 3 because it is well written and the intentions of the book really resonated, but it was a challenge to get through because the content was just…a lot…like…A LOT. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Violence, Vomit, Animal death, Body horror, Cannibalism, Mental illness, Murder, Self harm, Classism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Infertility, Medical content, Sexual content, Trafficking, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, and Torture

kelisabeth's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Grief, Abortion, Animal death, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Gore, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Dementia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Torture, Child abuse, Confinement, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Physical abuse, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Misogyny, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Self harm, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, and Rape

candace's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

1.75

This book seemed to revel in torture for torture sake. Having torture or violence in a book can have a purpose but this book seemed to go beyond that point. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Pregnancy, Infertility, Grief, Body horror, Rape, Blood, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Cannibalism, Violence, Sexual violence, Slavery, Child death, Sexual assault, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Trafficking, Mental illness, and Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

mxpringle's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

I literally don't know what to say about this I'm so awestruck and disgusted

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, Infertility, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Death, Violence, Torture, Miscarriage, Genocide, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Slavery, Murder, Animal death, Rape, Physical abuse, Mental illness, and Child death