Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

52 reviews

oxeyed's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense 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? No

2.75

Wanted to read a vampire novel and while the premise was very promising, the worldbuilding didn’t feel fully fleshed out and neither were the characters. I was really displeased by the eventual romance as it felt really hard to buy into due to the male protagonist being so childlike and naive (for someone who grew up on the streets he walks around with perpetual stars in his eyes). The ending redeemed it a bit but by the halfway point I had realized this book just wasn’t for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Sexual violence, and Police brutality

Minor: Rape and Sexual content

sineadz's review

adventurous challenging dark reflective tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ceruleanseas's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Drug use, Kidnapping, and Classism

little7thbirdie's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

I liked the storyline but my main issues were that Atl got with the boy, and I feel like he could've been aged up to be in his early 20s like Atl instead of being a minor. My other issue is with Ana's plot didn't really seem as important as Atl's and Domingo's.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

meg_thebrave's review

dark mysterious reflective 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? Yes

3.75

This is an excellent exploration of vampire lore. Moreno-Garcia creates fascinating worlds. I really liked experiencing Domingo and Atl’s interactions. I definitely recommend this book to people wanting a good vampire noir. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Animal cruelty

anabookadventures's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.0

This was the most unique vampire story I’ve read to date. I loved the world building and the lore with the use of multiple different cultures to build different types of vampires. I’ve also discovered I LOVE neon noir in books, the gritty and dark setting within Mexico City was so captivating, I think atmosphere is SMG biggest strength. I was also here for the different POVs and the way the plot progressed, and I think the bitter sweet ending was the best suited for the type of story.

This book was about to be a 3 star if she had killed off the dog though, I was going to be pissed buuuut she didn’t.

The only reason this wasn’t a 5 star for me is the romance. Just like with Mexican Gothic, it felt completely unnecessary. With Domingo and Atl, their dynamic made way more sense as friends/like family vibes,

and I’ll always get the ick when there’s a sex scene with an under 18 character and someone older.

So I would have enjoyed this story a lot more without that subplot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Sexual content, and Vomit

abby_can_read's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

3.0

📱
This book was fine. It wasn't for me. I really wanted to like it. The worldbuilding is what interested me the most. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Drug use, and Gun violence

Minor: Animal death

ford_defect's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Violence, Blood, and Abandonment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Vomit

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

dreaming_cosmos's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

The romance plot is very annoying, imo, but the rest of the story is compelling enough to get me through it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Misogyny, and Kidnapping

slimshaedy92's review

adventurous dark 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? Yes

5.0

I love me some built out vampire lore inspired by real world history and folklore! This book gives neon-nighttime (cyberpunk 2077?) vibes and variations on the vampire (as well as silly tidbits we love to see included) that I haven’t seen before but fit wonderfully in their respective cultures.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death