Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

6 reviews

meganlafo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Colonisation

jlaz_13's review

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

booksthatburn's review against another edition

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

4.5

Atl is a vampire hiding out in Mexico City after her family was murdered. Domingo is a former street kid, now working as a scrap picker for a rag and bone man. When he has a chance encounter with Atl on the subway, she invites him to her home to drink from him. What Atl intended as a single meal turns out to be the beginning of a partnership as they work on fleeing Mexico City together. They're pursued by Nick, a Necros who is obsessed with Atl, and Ana Aguirre, a detective who thought her transfer to Mexico City would mean dealing with fewer vampires than she used to.

The rapport between Domingo and Atl is excellently-written, driven by Domingo's adoration of Atl, and Atl's need for Domingo's help but distaste for feeling weak. Atl is using up every one of her mother's contacts along the way, relying on wisps of goodwill and loyalty from humans and vampires who assumed their obligations died long before Atl's mother did. This results in a tangle of one-off and repeating characters as Atl and Domingo navigate this loose network of contacts, just trying to get out of the city alive. 

The worldbuilding is immersive, built through stories, buildings, and how the characters move through this alternate version of Mexico City where not only are vampires real but there are several kinds of them. Some (like Atl) are Tlahuihpochtli descended from Aztec blood drinker temple priestesses, but human colonization and the encroachment of other vampires, like Necros and Revenants, have made things more complicated for recent generations. Several decades ago humans found out vampires are real, and many places promptly tried to legislate them out of existence. Mexico City is one such "vampire free" zone, a situation which causes problems for Atl.

The plot is a web of pursuers and pursued, beginning in earnest when one of Atl's pursuers gets sloppy and the police find a dead human. It's a dance of obsession, violence, and death, as Atl tries to use Domingo without him spooking, while Domingo finds himself falling in love with her and not minding being used.

I loved every minute, and am extremely happy with the ending. Don't miss this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

macknificent's review against another edition

dark 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? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Drug use, and Vomit

aardwyrm's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

There's some law that books in certain genres have to claim to be reinventing or rulebreaking for some reason. This book does not reinvent vampires. It's a fairly straightforward if grim urban fantasy vampire-themed thriller. Like most of the author's stuff, there's a wonderfully built world and a lot of lush prose inhabited by characters who are rather flatly by the book with no chemistry. Fun to read. Good for Halloween?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder

horizonous's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Blood

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Homophobia, Sexism, Suicide, and Sexual harassment

◦ Death = Sibling