Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Devourers by Indra Das

29 reviews

yrioona's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-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

3.5

A lush, vivid, gory, and sexy take on the "undead/shapeshifter" genre(s), dense with historical texture and a profound sense of place. I found this a bit uneven -- sometimes characters make choices or reel off dialogue in service to the plot but not grounded in their personalities/motivations, and sometimes Das's language (which is gorgeously descriptive) trips over itself with overwrought phrasing and flashy word choices -- but when it works it really works! The nested, nonlinear, narrative structure (and the interplay between this structure and all the um, devouring) is beautifully done. There is something a bit first-book-y about this but it's still something really special.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Murder, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Colonisation

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. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Violence

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

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

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

---

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

sunn_bleach's review

dark reflective tense 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

2.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Body horror, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Transphobia and Medical trauma

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.

---

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. 

---

Content Warnings

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

smoothlikebutter's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, Death, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

Queer werewolves

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

---

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

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. 

---

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

belladonnashrike's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

I looooved this, loved the writing. very lush prose and a gorgeous story about transformation, trauma, love, & humanity. it gave me interview with the vampire vibes almost immediately and much like that story, this didn’t disappoint! I adore stories about the intersection of humanity and the supernatural and this really encapsulates everything I love about that sort of narrative.

I wish some things were explored more,

such as Alok’s relationship with his ex and the significance of gender - gender is so important in this novel and i wish it was spoken about more at the beginning,

but I really enjoyed this nonetheless. I think the author handled the (very) rough topics well and I love the transformation allegory so much - also extremely well done. 

I loved Alok and Cyrah (especially her, I adore her) so much. they felt so real to me and I just want to know more about them, but this shouldn’t be a series. I like where the stories were left.

I often skim reviews before reading a book, and I read multiple times about how (summarizing) gory and gross this book is but it honestly felt very tame. yes there’s entrails and sinew and blood but it wasn’t as much as I was led to believe. am I the weird one? there IS a lot of piss imagery but it’s about a werewolf-type of creature. they’re dogs. they are territorial. it makes sense! 

anyway, I was really bewitched by this book. i’ve had it sitting on my shelf for years and just never picked it up for some reason but I’m so glad I finally read it!

additionally: I often read the acknowledgements and all the extra stuff at the end of books and I was very pleasantly surprised with the final lines in das’ acknowledgements. very indicative of their character and I do appreciate this inclusion.

content warnings in moderate tag bc i’m lazy

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Sexual content, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Murder, Rape, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Vomit