Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias

19 reviews

glorifiedloveletters's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

4.0

Mixing border crossings with the supernatural, Gabino Iglesias's THE DEVIL TAKES YOU HOME is the among the darkest of noirs. After Mario loses his daughter (and marriage) to cancer, he finds himself drawn into "one last job" with a big payday, hoping to win back his ex-wife and start anew. If you're at all ishy about violence, this is NOT the book for you— I admit to my toes curling during one particular scene— but none of it feels superfluous to the story. Iglesias's writing is vivid, artful, and has a lot to say about why people behave the way they do when backed into a corner. I'll be thinking about this book for awhile.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Transphobia

shiftycow1313's review against another edition

I knew based on the description that this book was going to be dark, but it is DARK DARK DARK. I'll try to pick it up again someday when my head is in a better space.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

horizon_fire's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, and Classism

Minor: Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

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

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

bando_bauldio's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense 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

4.0

Ok I thought this book was incredible. It was like no other horror book that I’ve read. My biggest problem with the book is actually that my mans Gabino Iglesias basically recycled the same friend Jake creature tale from his short story There’s Always Something in the Woods (I don’t know which came first tho). It would have been cool as a world expansion thing, but the stories are retold almost word for word. It felt lazy and made me lose some respect for the author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Drug use, and Classism

ate_nina_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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? Yes

3.75

This book is not for the faint of heart!! Graphic and gory and overall disturbing, this is not a light read. Nevertheless, it is beautifully written with both poetic prose and highly sympathetic insights into one grieving and deeply troubled man's psyche (a tall feat, considering the acts that this man commits throughout the book).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Toxic friendship, War, and Injury/Injury detail

shawnthulhu's review against another edition

<Spoiler> I just can't get past them torturing a child for religious gain...written in detail. I get there is likely metaphor there. But that was hard to read and it made me feel too uncomfortable and I wasn't prepared for it in any way. Read the trigger warnings before you pick this one up so you know what you're getting into.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

szmay's review against another edition

fast-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: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

elijah9715's review against another edition

dark sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Gun violence

Moderate: Xenophobia

Minor: Transphobia