Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias

74 reviews

amandaroa's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-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

3.0

I tried to read this book a year ago but it was just too ugly and I stopped. I decided to try again, being in the right mood for it, started over from the beginning.  
I can acknowledge the writing was great. The book put me into the shoes of a character whose world I have never experienced and did so im a way that was thought-provoking. But did I like the book? Not really. Might someone else? Sure. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Blood, and Murder

lisettemarie's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, and Classism

cmcrockford's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Mix of purple and strong prose here, but I also really hate Dead Kids and Lost Families as motivators for characters. I don't care! I dunno the Dead Kid! Stick to the plot! Plus this felt preachy sometimes. At least the combination of barrio noir and horror is cool.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

cbushwrite's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

Please read this book. If you like suspense and supernatural horror, and as long as anti-heroes don't completely turn you off, this will be the best book you've read in a long time. One I will not forget.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, and Blood

Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Colonisation

thewellbitch's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

 3 stars - This was a wild ride. I purchased it because I had seen it recommended in horror book lists, but it started out as some narco/crime novel so I was disappointed. But then we get bits of horror and I was like whoa. Some parts were very good (and disturbing), but having lived in cities where cartel violence is/was rampant I really do not enjoy it as the central part of books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Cancer, Child death, and Drug abuse

krnoble's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Xenophobia, and Murder

Minor: Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Transphobia, and Murder

englethebert's review against another edition

dark tense

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

3.5

Plods along in the middle but starts and ends strong. Characters are despicable interesting in their actions and interactions with one another, but struggle with internal growth

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Classism, and Deportation

Minor: Addiction and Infidelity

ohsnapsabrina93_'s review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

If you don't like gory details, don't read the book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

its_kievan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.0

Well written in parts, but tonally incoherent. Iglesias clearly had something to say, either about race in America or about the cycle of violence, but any move towards capital-T Themes would be abruptly ruined by the awkward horror/crime plot. The narration was weirdly disaffected, including such highlights as a man musing about God’s existence for a hundred pages and then utterly failing to react to unambiguous proof of the supernatural. The plot just existed to shuffle the characters from one location to the next, which I would be totally fine with if the locations didn’t feel like they were also there to move the characters along. There were some genuinely disturbing moments and thought-provoking insights in the mix, and it was a pretty quick read overall, but for such an intense concept and title I was hoping for more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

Minor: Transphobia

amandadelbrocco's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

 Maybe not my genre but I really did not enjoy this. 

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, and Classism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt