Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro, Daniel Kraus

8 reviews

kou_'s review against another edition

dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Animal death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

emily_daydreaming's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book, this book, this book!
It pulled me in and held me captive until the very end. It is so dark and twisted and yet also romantic and hopeful. It was way more violent and gorey than I expected but it suited the story. The lives of the characters were woven together, overlapping each other in such a way that was so satisfying to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Blood, Child death, Child abuse, Classism, Murder, Racism, Animal cruelty, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Violence, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content, Stalking, and Sexual harassment

madamenovelist's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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: Violence, Sexism, Gore, Cursing, Addiction, Animal death, Vomit, Homophobia, War, Torture, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Grief, Colonisation, Misogyny, Death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Medical content, Racism, Ableism, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Murder, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Classism, and Alcohol

delienn's review

emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Animal death, Body horror, Gun violence, Racism, Death, Animal cruelty, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexism, and Sexual content

casmith512's review against another edition

emotional mysterious slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: War, Torture, Blood, Misogyny, Death, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Sexual content

jennabajuice's review

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

A very interesting, quick read. I was a bit disappointed that much more time was spent with Strickland than Elisa (close to half the book) and that she wasn't developed more. But too many amazing details with the creature and setting and connections.

Also I found many of the analogies and other devices very on the nose, so if you enjoy analyzing more subtle details it could be a bit annoying at times. On the other hand, for those who don't it makes interesting allusions very accessible. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Animal death

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

v171's review

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious 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? No

4.0

 I found this to be a really enjoyable story that was a lot more than what I was expecting. I did not see the movie, but I had a loose understanding of what it was about. But I didn't realize there would be such extensive commentary on issues such as sexism, racism, ableism, homophobia, and PTSD. However, all of these themes were very seamlessly interwoven in a cohesive narrative that led to very satisfying character development for the full cast of characters. I thought this would be a plot heavy, fast paced read, but I was surprised to find that it was very introspective. There are some darker, heavy content warning scenes of the book, and don't expect any of the themes to lead to a ton of introspection. But aside from that, it was a quick, interesting read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Racism

Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, and Gun violence

Minor: Car accident, Infertility, and Infidelity

gracew's review

challenging emotional hopeful slow-paced

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

4.5

As beautiful in book form as it is in film. This book does a lot of background work and gives us POVs that makes some characters more likable and others more terrible. I think it captures a lot of what the film said in words the film couldn't. Also I just love women falling in love with monsters where the monsters are metaphors for marginalized people, particularly when there are other marginalized people in the story to drive the point that what makes us human is kindness, not violence. Del Torro is just *chefs kiss* honestly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Blood, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death, Racism, Ableism, and Homophobia