Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

The Devourers by Indra Das

28 reviews

kell_xavi's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

3.5

I was enamoured with this writing at the very beginning, Das’ canny  worldbuilding on the intricate foundations of mythos and South Asian history. The stories herein are a poetic and gritty recovery of  people, fundamentally, though their forms and settings carve the shape of the narrative. The courage and tenacity of one woman (a major player in the text) is an especially strong point, and the choices of the shapeshifters who take the bodies of men deepen what initially appears as swaggering brutality.

There is much about the body here, a visceral beastliness and texture to embodiment in many forms—though it is characterized by releasing of waste, blood, semen more often than is my preference. There is also a violence towards bodies, in their ripping apart and consumption, or the devouring of the title. Sexual encounters are carnal and animal as well, filled with pungency, passion. 

This is not a book for everybody, but I appreciated the ways in which Das made his shapeshifters seem more animal than supernatural, with an intensity to their worldliness. There is heat and bulk to them, rage and suffering. There is also a culture told by ritual, language, and customs that I could follow in their repercussions while not fully understanding their meanings. Where romance and human-creature relationship are prevalent in many supernatural novels, The Devourers is a welcome subversion. This book at once denies those plot lines, and works them back in, with more messiness and devastation that creates small, earned moments of tenderness. 

My last point, and another delightful subversion, is that this book is very queer. When we first meet him, the narrator (Alok) is quietly and somewhat shamefully bisexual; however, though I emohasize it here, in the text this queerness and gender is shown as a part of having a body—of embodying, using and changing flesh. The shapeshifters can choose the appearance of their first (humanoid) selves and their second (beastly) selves, altering gender or appearing with multiple genitalia. They are also sexual in a way not precluded by gender. Though women are treated with a misogyny that fits the historical context, the author (and the narrative) focus/es on agency and inner life of Cyrah with empathy and admiration. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Violence

Moderate: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Cannibalism, Body horror, Gore, and Colonisation

Minor: Vomit, Excrement, Biphobia, Animal death, and Classism

w0lfyfr3n's review

slow-paced

1.0

I was excited to start reading a book that I thought was about queer werewolves but this defied my expectations in the wrong direction. [Spoilers ahead]

For characters that can allegedly shift into any form, the three main non-humans inexplicably take the shape of frustratingly cryptic and uniquely horrid men. I was more interested in what was developing between Alok and the half werewolf but a good 80% of the book is not about their dynamic, and when it is, the nice tender moments are eclipsed by the unsatisfying and mysterious way in which their meetings end

Apart from this, the repeated flippant mentions of all forms of abuse, and the unnecessarily vivid descriptions of all bodily fluids threw me off completely. An overall uncomfortable read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Homophobia, Violence, and Excrement

kelleyannelyse's review

dark mysterious reflective 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Excrement, Violence, and Gore

Minor: Homophobia

poisoned_icecream's review against another edition

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

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Child death, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Rape, Death of parent, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Death, Gore, Excrement, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexism, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Violence

haylee_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

1.5

I…did not really like this and that’s all I am gonna say. I honestly kind of regret pushing through and finishing this one. I should have DNF’d.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, Excrement, Death, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Body horror, Sexual violence, and Violence

absakaabby's review

mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

Beautifully written. Weaves you through folklore and myths over centuries with such a mystical ease. The craving for love in each of the characters is felt. 
There are times when some descriptions are gruesome and unsettling though. I found myself skipping through the last 30 pages while it tried to reiterate everything the book had already said. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Sexual assault, Excrement, Homophobia, Rape, and Sexual violence

mle11's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexism, Sexual assault, Blood, Cannibalism, Stalking, Violence, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Animal death, Rape, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Biphobia, Excrement, Homophobia, Vomit, Hate crime, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Kidnapping, and Self harm

Minor: Colonisation and Drug use

stone_stupas's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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? Yes

3.0

If the character had pissed and sh*t less in this book and Indra Das hadn't chosen to collapse their own logic towards the end, this would have been rated higher. Still worth the read because it is written beautifully and historical details and events are woven intricately!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement and Rape

ssjd411's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Beautifully written and very dark. The story held my attention even as it got darker and more violent. The character development is so rich that it pulls you through the death and destruction. It's like nothing I've read before, and it will stay with me for a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Stalking, Sexual assault, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Cannibalism

salemander's review

5.0

this was such an interesting read. so much piss imagery for some reason……. but an incredibly riveting and mesmerizing story 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Excrement, Sexual assault, Vomit, Rape, Body horror, Death, and Gore