Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Sacrifice by Rin Chupeco

25 reviews

hookerkitty's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

Usually when you hear the phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover” it’s bc the cover is crappy, but the writing is good. However in this case it’s the exact opposite. 

This story had the potential to be amazing, but definitely needed (basically everything) to be fully fleshed out and heavily edited. It was full of caricatures and tropes which induced many eye rolls. Plus I found several grammatical/spelling errors (including usage of the wrong word or incomplete/nonsensical sentences). Parts of it were really interesting, while others were a slog to get through. I had to go back and re-read several parts because I had no idea what was going on (and unfortunately re-reading them didn’t usually help). 

Basically this was a confusing and disappointing read. I don’t remember how I came across this since it wasn’t in my TBR, but I don’t think I’d read other works by this author. From the reviews I’ve read it seems like her books are really hit or miss, so I don’t want to waste (more) time on books that I don’t like. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, and Car accident

businesswife's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

THIS BOOK SLAPS. This is a book about a very very cursed/ haunted island in the Philippines. The island is discovered by Hollywood execs and they come to the island to make a series ghost hunting and more. They also find Alon, the only local who is not scared of the island, and is even paid by the government as a protector. 

The viewpoint of the book is Alon who is so used to the island and is not phased by anything that happens throughout the book. The Hollywood execs are idiots and do everything you would expect while Alon just tries to keep them alive the best he can. 

Spoilers for the romance:

Alon also has a very sweet budding romance with Chase, one of the producers sons, this does not go all the way and they don't really go through with anything. But they are adorable and Alon protects him through the book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Car accident

Minor: Racism, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

tales_told_in_gold's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Gun violence and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Alcoholism, Racism, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

apothecarum's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infidelity, Sexism, Xenophobia, and Kidnapping

katherinek's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Racism, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Sexual harassment

queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

4 ⭐ CW: violence, gun violence, cursing, blood, gore, racism, human sacrifice, animal death, cursing, sexual harassment mention, death

The Sacrifice by Rin Chupeco is a YA horror focusing on a nonbinary Filipino (Filipine?) MC, and drawing on Chupeco's experience with caves on the islands of the Philippines. We also get a male love interest that is bi. 

We follow Alon, who is acting as a guide on the island of Kisapmata for a group of Hollywood big shots who plan to exploit Filipino culture and legends in order to get fame and recognition by doing a ghost hunting show. We don't learn much about Alon, but they are warning everyone away from the island the whole time people are there. The island doesn't want them there. When people start seeing ghosts of dead loved ones and people they've harmed, some seem to lose their minds when weird freaky stuff starts happening. Turns out the island is alive and doesn't like humans who have harmed other people. 

This was a great creepy read for spooky season! We definitely get themes on exploiting indigenous cultures for profit without giving respect, and themes on the lengths some people will go to in order to get power for themselves. It gave me urban-legend-comes-to-life vibes. Chase is the wholesome himbo of my heart, and I want my own Askal to protect me. I really liked the twist! Although it made me feel bad for Alon. 

I definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys ghost hunting shows and messages on morality and guilt. Who doesn't want to read about a haunted island that turns out houses an ancient god? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, and Racism

Minor: Sexual harassment

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Racism, Death of parent, and Colonisation

Minor: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

warlocksarecool21's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

This was such an interesting creepy little book, I still don’t know if I can verbalize all my thoughts. I was hooked by the initial premise of a Hollywood production team fucking around (and finding out) on a haunted island. I thought the theme of White people’s greed and destruction and its ties to colonization was really fascinating and how the Diwata almost seemed like it was there to protect the local people from outsiders. The most interesting part of this book for me was Alon. I knew from the start that there was more we didn’t know about them and that they had some kind of connection to the Diwata and the island but I still was surprised by the reveal at the end. At first I was irritated we didn’t get to be in Alon’s head that much, everything we learned about him was through the dialogue but by the end I realized it was intentional so everything wouldn’t be given away.

I thought the idea that Alon was raised by the Diwata and acts as His conscience was really intriguing, that a human could be so loved and valued by this ancient god. I also adored Askal, I love little weirdo monster dogs. I knew he had to be something more than a dog bc of how perceptive he was and I was so excited I was right.

In regards to the plot/writing, I thought the author did a good job shrouding everything in mystery, even though Alon is our protagonist, they’re kind of an unreliable narrator so it’s like we’re figuring it out with the rest of the crew. While I did like watching Hemlock and the other producers get their comeuppance, I felt that the commentary surrounding their sins was a little heavy-handed but that didn’t bother me too much. I wish the relationship between Alon and Chase was developed a bit more, I wasn’t really convinced that they liked each other than they were both hot and the same age but I am a cranky asexual. 

Finally, even though the writing was purposely detached at times, the creepiness and suspense throughout  the book was really done. The significance of the balete trees and the mahakiya plants was really interesting to me, and I was definitely weirded out at times. The balete monsters and everything else the Diwata conjured up definitely gave me the same creepy vibes as all the creatures and weirdness of the Upside Down in Stranger Things, so if you liked that element of the show you’ll probably enjoy this book. 
This is a creepy yet fun YA horror and I definitely recommend it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual assault, Suicide, and Sexual harassment

awkwardimagination's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I was really really enjoying this book, it was so good from the very first line. But I cannot help but feel,,, disappointed by the ending? maybe its my brain and I'm tired but i was hoping for something idfferent and reading the last chunk of the book made my brain feel mushy. I do really like this book, Alon and Askal were fantastic and the central theme of the book is one I like a lot - much about humanity and our actions. A great summary of this book is basically "greedy white men get whats coming to them, finally"

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicide, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

alicelalicon's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse