Rating: 
Summary: Fans Only
Review: Okay, here's the deal. If you are a Poppy Brite fan then you will devour this book. If you are new to Poppy then skip this one. There is a very fine line in horror between scary and gross. This book is disgusting simply for the joy of being so. It requires a strong stomach and a brain chemistry that defies nightmares. In other words, sensitive or very young folks should leave this one alone.
Rating: 
Summary: Gruesome to the point of nauseating !
Review: I love Drawing Blood and Lost Souls, two brilliantly written sensual horrors by Ms Brite. But I fail to stomach Exquisite Corpse. The macabre details do not frighten me, if anything it's overboard. I regret to say Ms Brite went over the edge with this horror. I fail to appreciate all the rich details of cut-up bodies splashed in blood driving sexual lusts. I always find it hard to like a book if I cannot sympathize with the main characters and Exquisite Corpse main characters, being cold psychopaths, are just plain revolting. I hope Ms Brite will not continue to explore this type of nauseating horror.
Rating: 
Summary: WOW
Review: This book soars with descriptive prose, compelling characters and keeps you page turning!!
Rating:
Summary: Kept me Reading
Review: I've read this book about 5 or 6 times already and everytime I pick up a little detail that I missed that last time I read it and the ending never gets old it's always a good book no matter how many times you read it. The fully detailed sentences jusy keeps you locked it and you don't want to put the book down, she's a phenomenal writer and she should be recognized for it.
Rating: 
Summary: she's not bad
Review: If you are a fan of Anne Rice or Clive Barker's work, then sooner or later you'll be led to Poppy Brite's work. She has the potential to become of one of the horror genre's great writers. This book dealt with two psychopathic murderers (Andrew and Jay) meeting and joining together. The book is told in rotating points-of-view, between first person Andrew, and the rest third person, Jay, Tran (a boy they set their sites on) and Luke (Tran's ex-boyfriend). I think the book suffers a little in this form. It's too short (less than 250 pages) and the action too fast to sustain rotating between that many points-of-view. The sex scenes can be a bit much at times. There are a few that are there only for gratuitous reasons and not to advance the story. I wish she had spent a little more time on story development than on showing us how good she is at writing homoerotic sex scenes (and why is it that women seem to be the best at writing sex scenes between two males?). But she has an interesting mind and can create some very good scenes and characters. I'll be interested in seeing how she further develops as a writer.
Rating:
Summary: Quite a disturbing piece of literature
Review: I started reading Brite's novels last year, and I think her an excellent novelist. But she outdid herself in this sick, and disturbing novel. She described the heinous methods that both Jay and Andrew used in order to satisfy their depraved thirsts. This book is explicity horrific and painstainkly lucid. I had difficulty reading through the parts when the victims are being brutally murdered. In a society that shies away from these "monsters," Brite succesfully places these individuals to the fore, so that the audience might take a glimpse of these wretched evil beings. I personally believe that these murderers are indeed, evil. Brite superbly demonstrates just how sick man can be. If anyone wants to delve into the deepest recesses of evil, then one should read this novel. I give it 5 stars because of its detail.
Rating: 
Summary: A couple of clarifications
Review: I was reading some of the other reviews and after reading this book I wanted to clarify a few things.First, the book is not homophobic. Clearly the killers preyed on young gay men, but that does not make the book homophobic. Nor does the author imply that all serial killers are gay. Mostly the author presents the material and the reader can make up their own mind. Which leads to the charge that these people become heroes. I did not get that impression. Clearly the story is told from the point of view of Andrew and the third person commentary on the other characters. Nevertheless, the author does not seem to turn them to heroes. The objection might come because the author does not demonize them properly, but I think this is pretty self explanatory. The book has vivid descriptions of sexual relations between a variety of men, rape, dismemberment, less so about cannibalism, but nevertheless, this is not the type of stuff that we like to think about, so in that way it's disturbing, but no more than any number of movies that are not controversial. Perhaps I was merely braced for the worst, and it's not for children or the squeamish, but it's not the worst thing I've read either. That's not to say this was the most pleasant reading material, but only to suggest that the author does a very good job of getting inside the head of a serial killer and tells a very compelling and seemingly realistic portrayal of the subject matter.
Rating:
Summary: Not for everyone.
Review: I won't be reading any other Brite books soon. I am impressed with her literary voice, if not the subject matter. It is gruesome, gory, sad, pathetic and shocking. I am glad to have read this, not for the story, but for Brite's poetic voice and character development.
Rating:
Summary: stand alone book
Review: this book is definatly not of the main steam type. any main stream, i mean. this includes other horrors. when reading this book one tends to get completely wrapped up in it. be warned that the content is highly shocking and that it is extremely watered down in most discriptions of the book. the only way to truely understand the extent and genius of the story is to read it. Brite does a wonderful job at letting the reader get inside the heads of the characters. you can almost understand the reasoning the people try to give for their actions and see what they are discribing. Brite is a wonderful author and having read some of her other books and stories i was not disappointed, although i must admit that at the end of the book i was a little blown away by the themes it covers.
Rating:
Summary: An amazing book
Review: With "Exquisite Corpse", Poppy Z. Brite's writing comes of age. Gone is the over use of alliteration and wordiness of her earlier (and younger)work. While this book is not for people with weak stomachs, it is an "exquisite" journey through the mind of a serial killer with a very special fettish. Brite also doesn't fall prey to the temptation to wrap things up in a happy ending. Instead the book's climax will leave you feeling devastated. Really, really, skillful writing.
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