Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Chaperos by Dennis Cooper

46 reviews

elsakern's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

2.0

I get the shock value, I get the examination of fanatic internet forums, but I simply am not the target audience for this. Thank fuck for that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Drug abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Gun violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Murder

Minor: Vomit and Pregnancy

prettyboypercy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

this is one of those books i feel so horrific to love. it’s depraved and sadistic and addictive, which is what the book wanted to be. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Sexual harassment

lunababybat's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.5

I loved mixed media, especially ones with unreliable narrators. Unlimately, it's up to the reader to decide what is true and what isn't. Who was Brad? Who really knows? Taking off half a star because there were way too many names to keep up with and I had to do a lot of doubling back to try to keep straight who was who. But all the kudos for how deliciously fucked up this story was and its unconventional formats. I think I need to find a community to talk about this one more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Sexual harassment

tabula_risa's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

God this book was heavy. A shockingly relevant examination of how the internet can create a whirlwind  of misinterpretation and confusion, and how the internet as a form of communication distances us from the horrors we are enabling. It also captures the hopeless desolation of the AIDs epidemic— the violence depicted in the book feels at times like a reflection of the virus itself. All in al not a book I enjoyed reading but one that I will think about for a while. Not for the faint of heart. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, and Vomit

Minor: Homophobia and Abortion

rjberwind's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

3.75

Transgressive and a very hard read. To those with a morbid curiosity, maybe this is your book. To all others: beware.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

nuclear_droid's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-paced

0.25

Thanks I hated it 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

deathtoastmarket93's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

4.5

Wow, honestly what a format, what a story. What a ride! Truly have not felt this riveted in a long time. Its felt like falling down a reddit thread hole. You know? Like that guy who did heroine and documented it on reddit. I read this in a single day I honestly love it. 

Its very very dark and messed up but its so fantastic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Trafficking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

If you are sensitive to sexual crime, please look up the content warnings!!!

tshc's review against another edition

dark tense

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Excrement, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

jemmers's review against another edition

Too many characters and a convoluted storyline. I thought it was cool at first trying to piece this, albeit fucked up, mystery together from escort reviews and discussion board posts. But there are WAY too many characters to keep track of. My brain felt like that Pepe Silvia meme. The mental work to figure out who snuffed who, if any snuffing actually occurred at all, is not worth it, imo. Like I just don’t care enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

ribbenkast's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book is not for everyone, and definitely not for the faint of heart. People are quick to say that about a lot of horror, but this time please heed the warning. 

However, I do have to give this book 5 ⭐️. It just does everything right. First there is the mystery: the book mainly consists of forum posts on an gay escort rating website in the early 2000's. There is no way to verify which accounts are real and which accounts are fake (even though the poor webmaster does try). Dennis Cooper does not take the reader by the hand. You have to do some detective work and decide for yourself what is real and what is fake. 

Secondly, it uses gore and violence effectively within the story. (So many times in extreme horror, gore is just simply there for the shock value. I find that rather overdone and boring). Some of the described acts are so vile, I had to put the book down for a bit. Whether these things actually happened or whether these were just the perverted ramblings of someone getting their weird rocks off remains to be debated. (Although we get some answers in the end.) 

When does a fantasy cross the line? What is ethical even if someone supposedly concented? It is a cruel account of what happens when people egg each other on to live their most perverted fantasies. This book written in 2004 is an important early conversation about Internet safety and mass delerium when people can hide in anonymity.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism