Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Das Reich der Vampire by Jay Kristoff

37 reviews

haileyybean's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Drug abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death

andromeda_1998's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

clairew97's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

anntharai's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad slow-paced

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

3.5

The bits I liked I REALLY liked. 
The issues I have with it REALLY irk me. 

The world building is immaculate if a bit on the nose, really vivid writing and visceral descriptions, a great mechanic. Love the use of tattoos and the lore building. Overall I liked the story itself. 

The issues, though? 
I found myself rolling my eyes at a lot of the vulgarity because it was genuinely ludicrous at times. Swearing doesn’t bother me in the slightest but the lengths to which these characters went just to get a “banged your relative” joke in was over the top. 

Everything has a simile. Everything. The doors locked like a secret. The floors cold like the night. The night air cold like knives. Wind like knives. Words like knives. Running frightened like a startled horse in a barn on fire and the devil whipping it all the way. The lips red like red things.

The repetitive phrases (fuck my face, like his lady’s lips the last time he kissed her, better a bastard than a fool) stopped feeling symbolic and started feeling like a crutch about half way through and using the same *twist* mechanic used twice (gender neutral names being the crux of two stories told so closely together) made it feel less polished than it could have been. 

Thanks to various reviews etc I was also expecting a “big thing” to shock me at the end but I kind of felt it was obvious…? 

Anti-climactic, in a word, but I do want to know what happens so it’s not like I hated it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Religious bigotry, Murder, Outing, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

caitlinbutcher's review against another edition

Insanely boring. Like oh my god. I got EIGHT HOURS into the audiobook and I was still SO bored. I could have read an entire book in the time it took me to learn that Gabe is a horny watered-down-vampire but vampire-killing legend who swears a fuck ton. I was on the fence about whether to continue with it or not when I looked up some goodreads reviews. I was feeling a little weird about the portrayal of women in this book but the goodreads reviews really cemented it for me. Apparently only the women in the story die horrific and graphic deaths. So yeah. I understand now why people hate this author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, and War

karapillar's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and War

Minor: Rape and Pregnancy

gardenofroses's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

 This was such a journey… I started reading this book in February and only just finished this month but it was such an amazing story. I had been searching for a fantasy book with great world-building and a morally grey MC and this delivered that and so much more.

His writing definitely brought life to the world and the characters. The world-building was done so beautifully I could imagine everything Kristoff was describing and every time I sat down to read I felt immersed in the world; It felt alive and I think that also came down to having art within the pages to go along with the story as you’re reading. It felt like a reward.

The platonic relationships depicted in the story were everything to me. Reading Gabriel’s friendship with Baptiste, and especially Aaron, grow throughout the story was so heartwarming. You could just feel the brotherhood spilling from the pages. And Gabriel’s relationship with Dior omg. It’s heartbreaking but so warm and full of love and I want to protect them both from everything that they’ll probably experience as the series goes on. Their relationship definitely gives off Ellie and Joel vibes from The Last of Us if you’ve ever played that game!

There were, however, some areas of the book that could be considered problematic. There is an age gap relationship represented which did make me slightly uncomfortable at the beginning of the story. And I also found it hard to feel the all-consuming love that Gabriel and Astrid were supposed to have for each other. I’m not sure if Kristoff intended to write very little of their interactions in the first book because he’s planning on expanding on it in the sequel but it made it hard for me to believe that they loved each other as much as Gabriel said he did. I did feel the love Gabriel has for his brothers, his daughter, and Dior but I couldn’t connect that love with Astrid which made it seems sort of dry at times.

Overall, it was a really great story with amazing writing and characters I want to protect and make sure nothing bad ever happens to them ever again. I’ll definitely be checking out more of his other books and I can’t wait for the sequel. If you've been wanting to read it I highly suggest you do! DON'T LET THE SIZE INTIMIDATE YOU!

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Torture, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

holly_n's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Homophobia, and Grief

Minor: Child death, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, and Torture

booksarefriends_notfood's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Violence, Blood, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Homophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexism, Sexual content, and Torture

writingcaia's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

It’s been twenty seven years of darkness, twenty seven years since the sun barely shines in the world, and now the black lion, the last of the Silversaints, the hero of the people, Gabriel de Leon has been captured by the new ruling vampire house. 
There Gabe is forced to relay his life’s story which he fast forwards to when he turns fifteen just before being sent to the Ordo Argent, the Silver Order, to become a Silversaint. Half-human half-vampire it seems to his mother that the order will be his best option, and it is. It is there he will find a family, love, power, and recognition all he has ever dreamed and more, but at a cost. That price we see in another period of his life’s journey that he also relays to the vampire historian writing his story down, which is when he is thirty two, just two years before the present time.
In sum we will have a pretty clear idea of who Gabe was until he was seventeen and at thirty two, the rest we get only scraps that tease our appetite for more. One thing is clear Gabriel de Leon is now jaded and crushed, but the light of his hatred for the vampires is unbroken and mighty, and there seems to be hope for his current status as a prisoner or so we hope.
It is hard to review a book I’ve waited for for more than a year, the expectations were enormous, first because it’s Jay and second because I freaking love vampires.
So, what did I think?
I loved it, it was awesome. It’s medium-fast paced, has a great world building, the characters are amazing, well fleshed, and just overall super interesting. It is dark, bloody and the narration has the snarky-ness, which I adore, we are used to since Nevernight, and I mean Gabriel is mega hot, those illustrations wow, and another favourite is Dior. The only minus for me was the back and forth between timelines, I got so invested in one and then had to go back to the other, and vice-versa, plus on those almost seventeen years between them so much happens that we just know from small references dropped here and there, that specially annoyed me. I do prefer a more regular timeline particularly if we almost know what happen between the two timelines but not enough to quench the curiosity. But, honestly it didn’t take much from my love of the story. 
And, now the suffering begins, the wait for the next two books in the series.
If you love adult fantasy, vampires and dark moody books, this is for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, and War