Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

11 reviews

iamsammie27's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol

Minor: Death and Death of parent

ecn's review

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.0

Not gonna lie I’m pretty disappointed by this book and I really wanted to love it :/  To start, the MC is extremely annoying and the reader doesn’t learn ANYTHING about her as a person. The same can be said for the other MC. We learn almost nothing about him and I just feel bad for him whole time. Also, their AGE GAP romance is absolutely disgusting and NOT AT ALL NECESSARY!? He literally could have been 18 (and she 23(?)) but he had to be 17? 
Also, the pacing felt so choppy and like I was missing something and this became especially apparent whenever new characters were introduced.
Lastly, the ending was the most anticlimactic thing I’ve ever read? I kept seeing how little was left of the story and thought SURELY things must start getting crazy soon? But they never did and the story didn’t end on… any note. It just kind of ended.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Death, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

takarakei's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

3.0

The beginning dives right into the world and action. The gritty and gothic settings of Mexico City is described well and is an interesting backdrop for a vampire story. Via audiobook keeping the different characters separate and their involvement in the story was a bit difficult. However because it's multiple POV, as the story progresses the pacing gets off and really slows down. 
Overall there was not enough character depth or development, and by the ending I rather feel like nothing had changed? meaning the story was kind of pointless?
I've read a few books by this author and none of them quite hit the mark.

2.5/5🌶️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Sexual content

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

marareading's review

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? Yes

3.5

This was definitely outside my comfort zone as far as genre is concerned, and I genuinely liked it. This is a vampire crime noir. Imagine a gritty urban crime story based in Mexico City, with battling vampire drug cartels. Atl is a vampire and is on the run for her life. She is the daughter of one of the largest cartel families in South America, and another cartel vampire family is after her. Meanwhile, the cops/government are not fond of vampires and trying to extinguish them, considering them a threat. Atl takes up with a street kid, Domingo, who is overly curious, sometimes annoying and now they are in it together on the run. 

This is a brutal and bloody story. It is so well written. I really enjoyed it. Noir is not usually something I reach for, but I can never resist a vampire story. Definitely recommend if you like crime stories or vampires.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

graycewith1y's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, 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

ruthlessreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I thought this book was okay. It was well written but I didn’t feel a very strong connection to any of the characters. The action felt a little forced and I was honestly bored at times. It wasn’t bad, by any means, but it’s not something I would read again nor that I would recommend to anyone who isn’t a hardcore vampire fan. I found the details about the different kinds of vampires to be fascinating and wish I’d been able to learn more about that specifically. I liked Domingo a lot even though he felt kinda flat to me, very typical “I’m obsessed with vampires” human. I wish we knew a little bit more about him as a person. The same with Atl, whose background I feel we only got the lightest of sketches of to explain why she was on the run and in Mexico City. I would’ve liked a longer book or for this to be the first in a duology about these characters, Atl specifically but also other important characters & the different clans. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Torture, Violence, Grief, and War

Minor: Sexual content

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

cantfindmybookmark's review

dark funny mysterious sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Medical trauma