Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray

8 reviews

rainbeauregard's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad 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: Death, Classism, Body horror, Child death, and Blood

Moderate: Violence and Murder

Minor: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Deportation, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Medical trauma, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Antisemitism, War, Violence, Slavery, Religious bigotry, and Ableism

This book is worth a read but it has a LOT of potentially triggering content

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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

3.75

 I enjoyed this more than the first two books, and holy crap the last 1/4 of the book! So much action, and some things I really didn't like, especially how one character is kind of just forgotten by the author. But I did find some of the more annoying/less-likable characters more tolerable and even likable in this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Blood, Xenophobia, Stalking, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Animal death, Murder, Racism, Domestic abuse, Violence, Gun violence, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Torture, Grief, Gore, Ableism, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Hate crime, Police brutality, and Sexual content

emilyplun's review

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Ableism, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Police brutality

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Gun violence, Homophobia, and Slavery

genny's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.25

Whew, okay, how do I review this one? It was much more somber than I anticipated. This time there's no big mystery at the forefront, so while I'm glad we're finally seeing more of the whole "King of Crows" business, I feel like this lacked the structure (and whimsy) of the first two books. The revelations about Project Buffalo felt like a punch to the gut, and my opinions about certain characters went through a rollercoaster (looking at you, Bill Johnson!).

In other words: this hurt my heart. I loved that we finally got to see more of Mabel's perspective, though this did feel detached from the rest of the story. Her struggle with morality as she fights the good fight? How she both missed and resented Evie, and all that she represented? So good. I'm a little bitter that we won't see how she could've reconciled these inner conflicts.

Spoiler

Because, if you clicked on this and thus aren't afraid of spoilers, she dies. Holding the hand of a person who, for all his faults, really did love her. Again: ow, my heart. Bray just straight up killed main characters in the last 10% of the book, damn!

I don't even know how to feel about Jericho anymore (do read the content warnings...). That's not to say that everything's doom and gloom! We still get plenty of humor and the beautiful friendships between the cast (and Theta being a badass). As always, Sam's romance with Evie was a personal highlight.

I listened to the audiobook - amazing voice work, as expected. I will likely reread the entire series in print one day. I'm a bit scared of book 4 because I've heard its the weakest, and that's never a good thing to hear about a series' conclusion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, and Violence

Moderate: Antisemitism, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Police brutality, and Racism

Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Homophobia

Eugenics is discussed multiple times, with proponents advocating for racist, homophobic, and ableist beliefs. A character gets threatening messages from their abuser, who eventually tracks them down and acts controlling/threatening. Two female characters are forcefully kissed; one scene is more graphic, as the woman is attacked and held down. The diviners visit an asylum; some patients are there willingly, some aren't. A character shares that their mother suffered from a mental illness. Another character reminisces about their mother dying from cancer.

riella_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

5.0

 Ughhhh this was everything I wanted! This was so much better than Lair of Dreams, and maybe even The Diviners! This also got way more emotional than I thought it would, and has a lot more triggers than others.  I cant wait to read the next book even tho I heard it sucks. There's so many things that I need cleared up, and that cliffhanger! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Stalking

danaleelin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Violence, Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness

booksandcoffeerequired's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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: Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia

claudiaswords's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The Diviners is one of my all time favourite book series and for some reason it took me until book three to come to that conclusion. Not only is Libba Bray's writing incredibly beautiful and atmospheric, but her characters are some of the best characters I've ever read. They are round and flawed and you can't help but fall in love with them. 
Probably my favourite part of this book was the "found family" trope finally coming together, since in the two previous books the group hadn't fully formed yet. I loved the relationships that formed and how they came to be, nothing felt forced on the characters. Most of all I loved the character development. I didn't love Evie at first, she seemed to me a bit too much at times and in the previous books I wasn't so interested in her story as much as that of other characters but in this book I came to absolutely love her. I think she might be one of my favourite characters in this series right now. Sam, Memphis and Theta are close seconds (I would give my life for all of them). I loved how their stories where developed in this book as well. I do wish we had gotten more Ling and Henry development but they were the focus of the last book (Lair of Dreams) so I understand why they were a bit more in the background this time around. 
The ones I haven't mentioned yet are because they are a bit more delicate to handle in my opinion. Mabel and Jericho. Mabel had me on my toes during this whole book. She was a character I really liked in the first book, I related a lot to her, and I still did in this one, but I saw her going in a direction I didn't like. However, by the time the ending came around I completely understood everything she had done in this book was for a reason, that it was necessary for her growth and I appreciate it. Jericho I don't really know what to think of, he changed a lot in this book and I think I have to wait until I read the next one to say what I think about those changes.
All in all this was a wondeful read, I haven't given it 5 stars because the beginning felt a bit slow for me, but once the pace picked up it did so wonderfully and didn't drop for a second. I must admit some parts of this book had me tearing up and wanting (needing) to hug the characters.
All in all this was a very very good read and has finally confirmed Libba Bray as one of my favourite authors.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Rape, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Antisemitism, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Racism

Minor: Homophobia, Medical content, and Slavery