Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Any Man by Amber Tamblyn

36 reviews

youmns's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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? No

"Any Man" should come with one giant blinking red trigger warning.

Some parts read like spoken word poetry. Some are simply fiction. Almost all of it is horror, though I imagine it's well-researched and true horror. The sexual assaults are described with simultaneously less and more detail than needed to get their point across. The way people respond to the victims is horrifying. The way we alienate and vilify victims and survivors of sexual assault is horrifying.

I'm not quite sure how to rate this book, so I won't.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Self harm, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Child abuse, Body horror, Torture, and Transphobia

Minor: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Addiction, Suicide, Eating disorder, and Blood

Giant, massive trigger warning for survivors of sexual abuse: maybe don't read this book.

ecokeefe's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Physical abuse, Torture, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Blood, Death, and Sexual content

Moderate: Murder and Animal cruelty

Minor: Suicide and Deadnaming

bookgrind's review against another edition

dark emotional tense

5.0

Coming from an individual that was sexually assaulted, this novel is graphic and depicts how it feels to come out as being sexually assaulted and the inner feelings that they experience. Excellent novel about this awful topic!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, and Sexual assault

Minor: Death

plantedpaperbacks's review

dark emotional sad fast-paced

4.5

All I will say is, check the content warnings because wow this book is intense. (Also, listen to the audiobook)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Blood

Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol

craizydaizy1014's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Blood

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

4.5

READ TRIGGER/CONTENT WARNINGS
this was a great read (not necessarily because of the story since it discusses r*p* and s*x*u*l a*s*u*t, but the way it was told). It's multiple pov and can get pretty graphic. I wish we got a little bit of expansion on Michael and Sebastian as they were the victims we got the least amount of time with. I also didn't love the ending, but it was wrapped up nicely enough for me with how the victims coped and tried to heal.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gaslighting, Transphobia, Grief, Sexism, Alcohol, Self harm, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Cursing, Animal death, Mental illness, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Bullying, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

allapaz's review against another edition

3.75

the writing here was killer, the character explorations were good, if not a little inconsistent with some characters given way more depth than others, but my biggest question with this one is....who is this for? a VERY difficult read and yes it's impactful and raw and disgusting in places, but this seems marketed toward the social demographic that already knows what the commentary is saying? 

tl;dr: good book, hard to recommend

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Eating disorder, Sexism, Animal death, Rape, Animal cruelty, Blood, Suicide, Violence, Self harm, Gore, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Deadnaming, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, and Child abuse

Moderate: Cancer

americattt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.5

“I am in a body. It is not the one I came here with, but it is the one I’ll leave here in. I will take care of it. It belongs to me now. My pain, I will take care of it. It belongs to me now. My heart, I will take care of it. It belongs to me now. My story, I will take care of it. It belongs to me now."

Highly recommend the audiobook version of this, with a full cast that made everything feel so much more real. A very difficult read that made me feel sick to my stomach a few times, but I think the core material/message is important. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Blood

Moderate: Deadnaming, Eating disorder, and Transphobia

mfrisk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was like nothing I’ve ever read before. I want to strongly encourage folks to check the content warnings prior to delving into this book but once you’ve done that if you’re at a place where you feel you can read this book I’d highly recommend it. 

This book follows several men who’ve been raped by an unknown woman and we’re following them as they work to pick up the pieces within their lives and regain some sense of normalcy or something new. We follow them through journal entries, internet searches, online chats, and media reactions and they all come together to make a rich story that is able to delve into difficult topics including sexual assault and rape as it relates to racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, toxic masculinity, media coverage and our criminal justice system. 

This was an incredibly difficult read but I’m so glad I read it and I can tell I’ll be thinking about the questions it raised for years to come. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Violence, Transphobia, Alcoholism, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Abandonment

dajul73's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad fast-paced

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

5.0

I've never read anything like this. It broke my heart again and again and again. It reminded me of some difficult truths pur culture likes to pretend don't exist. It's a slap in the face, a kick to the gut, but a necessary read. I couldn't put it down. I had to put it down tho in order to process the emotions I felt. Read this with an open mind and heart.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Blood, Torture, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Mental illness, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Self harm

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death