Reviews tagging 'Violence'

El Test by Sylvain Neuvel

30 reviews

biobeetle's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Hate crime, Violence, Death, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Colonisation and Classism

Minor: Body shaming

katrinarose's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

An fast, engaging read with an interesting thought experiment but I don’t really get the message/meaning/point. Every time it seemed about to make a social commentary, it seemed to steer away from actually getting to the meat of the idea (i.e. brief mentions of immigration, identity politics, but no depth to it).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Death, and Gun violence

tey_lynn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Murder, Grief, Violence, Blood, Body shaming, Death of parent, Gun violence, Confinement, Death, Deportation, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Suicidal thoughts

cosmicpanda's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Racism, Violence, Grief, Islamophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Blood, Body shaming, Deportation, Fatphobia, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Abortion, Alcohol, Drug use, Medical content, Sexism, Misogyny, and Rape

kather_doc's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Mass/school shootings, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gun violence, and Violence

rebeccapughs's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-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? Yes

0.5

I think I can see what the author was trying to do, but it just isn’t for me. I didn’t like the writing style, the characters or anything about it really. I only finished the book because it is so short. 
I disliked it when I first finished it but the more I think about it the more annoyed I am at it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Blood

bookbird's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Punchy and interesting and terribly sad. Would love to see this premise expanded. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death of parent, Islamophobia, Murder, Gun violence, Hate crime, Violence, Mass/school shootings, and Death

xwritingstoriesx's review against another edition

dark reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

A high tech, virtual reality horror

that discusses social issues such as immigration and citizenship. I went into this expecting a literal test and I was pleasantly surprised by the actual concept of this novella. It really paints a picture of what the UK could become if UKIP (or another far right, nationalist party) were to win an election in the distant future. The extreme nationalism, xenophobia and lack of human empathy was disturbing to read. The fixation on data and numbers taking priority over human safety and wellbeing is an issue we are presently dealing with as a country. To read pages upon pages of this was horrifying, nevermind experiencing it in real life and being subjected to dehumanising screenings of worthiness. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Sexism, Child abuse, Violence, Body shaming, Deportation, Fatphobia, Murder, Gun violence, Racism, and Xenophobia

blackcatkai's review against another edition

challenging tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I need to get my thoughts in order before I can properly review this one. RTC

UPDATE! i never did quite get my thoughts in order then i forgot to come back. overall, this one started strong but i didnt quite care for the middle or ending of this one. it wasnt bad, just bits here and there that threw me out of the story.

CW:  Gun violence, Death, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Child abuse, Fatphobia/body shaming, grief, murder, casual ableism

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Racism, Child abuse, Death, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Grief, Fatphobia, and Body shaming

Minor: Ableism

cyskafoxtail's review against another edition

emotional tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Violence and Suicide attempt