theneverendingtbr's reviews
372 reviews

Body Art by Kristopher Triana

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

5.0

This, my second Kristopher Triana read was absolutely brilliant; I was slightly confused though as there seemed to be two storylines with this one.

There was a storyline with a mortuary worker, who sees the human body as a canvas and himself as the artist.

The other storyline involves underground pornography and attempts to get the most f**ked up thing on camera. 

The way it all tied up in the end though was genius, the characters were well developed and this gets a top rating.

I could go on and on but I don't want to spoil it for anyone going to read it.

It's such a dark and depraved story though, so reader discretion is advised. 

:B
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Billy Silver by Daniel J. Volpe

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

5.0

Billy Silver, a singer and lead guitarist in a band who just happens to be a woman-beating, waste-of-space junkie ends of being kicked out of the band and starts really struggling for money..

His girlfriend ends up turning to prostitution to feed her heroin addiction and Billy comes across a tattooist who pays the first 5 customers to tattoo them (seemingly for practice) but after the tattoos he gets he becomes completely uncontrollable - self-harming and seeking vengeance on his whore girlfriend and old bandmates.

There wasn't a character in this whole book that I liked, they were all horrible people; it's written very well, it's a tense page-turner and I was always curious to what was going to happen next.
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XXX by Rayne Havok

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dark sad fast-paced

4.0

This one was a short story is about a fiendish man called Xavier, who carves the letter 'X' onto his victims when he's finished with them; he's on the loose after an eight year stretch and tonight he's at it again.

Will tonight be the night of his comeuppance?

This was a straight to the point, disturbing story and written well.
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Mother Maggot by Simon McHardy

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dark sad tense fast-paced

4.0

This book just goes from one repulsive thing to another, the characters are the most deviant motherf*ckers I've ever came across in any book.

The author does exactly what he sets out to do here, disgust us!

Even though I was repulsed, I couldn't stop reading because the writing is so good.

Definitely be reading something else by this author.
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The World Inside by Robert Silverberg

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

3.0

The year is 2381 and earth’s population has grown to 75
billion people and they've adapted to this situation by housing people
in massive skyscrapers called 'urban monads' each a thousand stories high, containing close
to a million residents per building.

Their religion is basically "be fruitful and multiply." 

At night the men go 'nightwalking' and select any woman to have sex with, non-monogamy is encouraged and contraception is considered a sin.

Anyone causing trouble or disobeying the rules faces the punishment of "going down the chute"

It was an interesting read, good but not great - so I've given it a moderate rating.

Still, definitely recommended - especially for the dystopian fan!


Wet Work by Philip Nutman

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

3.0

A comet streaks across the night sky, drawing people outdoors to view the celestial display. But its beauty hides a sinister secret . . . a mutant virus that spreads across the United States. The disease is fatal, yet its victims come back to life--with a voracious appetite for HUMAN FLESH!!

Right okay, this sounded awesome due to that summary and on the front cover of the book it says "The Most Acclaimed Novel Of Epic Terror Since The Stand"

So I was instantly interested because The Stand by Stephen King is my favourite book of all time.

BUT.. to make that claim is just plain silly.

Wet Work was a moderately good novel, it was a interesting take on the zombie genre, they're able to drive cars and make phone calls...yes seriously!! 

It's not your traditional zombie story, it's more of a CIA/Military story and reads like an Andy McNab book.

There's lot's of blood, gore, bullets and brains in this one.
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Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier

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dark lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This one is about a pregnant, eighteen year old pizza delivery driver called Jane who becomes obsessed by a customer called Jenny, a mum desperate to help her son settle in a new town by getting him his favourite pizza.

When Jane shows up to deliver the pizza and meets Jenny, a story starts of two lonely souls - connecting.

The book starts off quirky and lighthearted and then I was surprised at how dark and depressing it became, the writing is very good though and for a debut novel - I think the writer should be proud of themselves. 

I'd definitely read another of her books.
Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening by Marjorie Liu

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dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed Monstress - Volume One, the artwork is stunning, it's also very rich in dialogue, it has an engaging plot which I'm looking forward to continuing and finding out more about Maika Halfwolf; she's a interesting character and there's lots of potential here.
Sick Bastards by Matt Shaw

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

1.0

Thought this was either badly written or the publishing company made a balls up of it because there's so much bad grammar and even spelling mistakes in the book; it's like it was written by a teenager.

The plot is very thin and straightforward, I guess I wanted to read this one because of the cover; it felt like I'd be reading something forbidden.

There's a few bits that have shock value which are disgusting, disturbing and gory.

If you like grisly, poorly written and repetitive horror then it’s for you.
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Skitter by Ezekiel Boone

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

My review of this one is basically the exact same as for the previous book.

I'm at the point where I'm desperate for something different to read because I've gotten bored of these books now, I've lost interest.


I've read loads of similar books which are masterpieces and the bar is too high I guess lol.

Still gets a moderate rating because I certainly does have it's moments, I just prefer books with good, memorable characters and these books don't offer this.