Reviews tagging 'Blood'

El Test by Sylvain Neuvel

22 reviews

franceselsie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, and Blood

marareading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad 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

4.0

This is a quick and intense read. It will definitely stay with me for a long time. It is very thought provoking. What happens when we push too far? What happens when the parameters aren't set properly? How do we recover when things go wrong?

This book is about a man who goes in to take his citizenship test and he gets more than he planned for. I could never have imagined the twists in this book. So much packed into a short book. I loved it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

dealingwithdragons's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Dementia, and Abortion

scarpentier's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

dalmavatai's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-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? No

3.0

This book was definitely memorable and incredibly unique. 

As social commentary, I believe this book is extremely successful. The way that it explores the dangers of the intersection between scientific technology and xenophobia in Britain, all while the country purports to be against prejudice and discrimination, was radical in the best way possible. The dystopian future Neuvel imagines in this short story is a radical critique of our own time and the ways in which 'Western' countries in particular think that they are liberal and accepting, all while perpetuating a status quo that's still very xenophobic, racist, and Islamophobic. 

However, this book wasn't for me in other ways. The explanations of science definitely went way over my head, especially because I listened to the audiobook and couldn't go back if I didn't grasp something fully. I also thought that the plot point towards the end, while I understand its function as commentary, was a bit random and I could not fully appreciate its inclusion in the story, especially as so much was going on already that I found it a bit hard to follow. 

Short stories are not terribly likely to get a very high rating from me because I can't connect to the characters in such a short period of time, but this is a short story that I believe is definitely worth the read even for those not into science fiction. Maybe read the physical book (perhaps along with the audio because Neal Shah's performance is superb) if you want to stay on top of everything that's going on, though!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

Minor: Fatphobia

spacebot3000's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Fatphobia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Islamophobia

poojakunaparaju'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

3.25

i think it was super enjoyable like REALLY INTERESTING up until the end like legit till the last 2 pages after which, a shift in the main character's well, character, made me recoil sharply from the entire story even tho u can't blame him for switching up after the shit he was put through AND I MEAN SHIT. i remember being like 3/4th of the way through and thinking this would def be a 4.25ish read but when i was done it dropped down an entire star to 3.25 and i wish i could explain why but i can't, just something in my gut and also NO ONE CARES LMAO but i was really fascinated by a couple of paragraphs that went into human psychological theories which was informative while still being comprehensive to an average reader i'd say, so i was happy it taught me some pretty cool stuff without making me feel too dumb in the process LOL

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Cursing and Xenophobia

Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood

horizonous's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse

Moderate: Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Transphobia, Xenophobia, and Islamophobia

◦ Death = Death of a loved one

baisles's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

It’s like a punch in face in book form. Like “Hey dickhead, be a better person.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

afomia's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Mass/school shootings