Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray

10 reviews

maddiereadswords's review

4.5

Great news!! Even after reading this book three times and fully knowing what's coming, the ending of this book can still make me cry. It's fine, I'm totally fine.

This doesn't have the same creepy, haunting vibes as the first two books, and the two parts feel a little more disconnected to the point where I almost wish it had been two separate books (mostly because the back half in particular is so fast-paced and plot heavy that it really loses that spooky edge, and also partly because I selfishly can never get enough of these characters.) This is easily the darkest and most "adult" installment so far, and while it doesn't hit quite as hard as the first two for me, it's still an absolute powerhouse of a book that drags me through the full spectrum of human emotion every time I read it. <3

Spoiler

Also shout out to Ling Chan for being so autistic that she accidentally bypassed internalized homophobia, and to Miriam Lubovitch and Viola Campbell for being such milfs that they keep adopting fucked up children like Pokemon despite being held captive. I love women.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Racism, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Ableism, Antisemitism, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Gun violence, Animal death, Violence, Alcohol, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Homophobia, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, and Stalking

Moderate: Classism, Deportation, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Sexual content, Dementia, and Sexism

ellie_gonzalez's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Forced institutionalization, Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Pedophilia

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

nytephoenyx's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective 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

Loved this book. Love Libba Bray. Love all these characters but Sam Lloyd is my absolute favorite at the moment. This carried the series so well and upped the stakes and the focus on eugenics and having that angry conversation as well as radical protestors and just. It’s so good. History driven fantasy is wonderful. The ghost story aspects are wonderful. Just loved it. Loved it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Fire/Fire injury, Xenophobia, Rape, Classism, Death, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Religious bigotry

Minor: Deportation, Gun violence, and Ableism

This book includes characters who are Black, Chinese, disabled, Jewish, and gay. There are minor characters who are LatinX, Black, and Jewish. Eugenics is a central conversation in the book. It is very strongly opposed.

heather_freshparchment's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Religious bigotry, Classism, Racial slurs, Death, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

Moderate: War, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Homophobia

Minor: Suicide attempt

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

ellanarose's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Hate crime, Racism, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Death, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Sexual content, and Violence

bookswithjess's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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: Racism and Rape

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Homophobia, Murder, and Violence

larareads's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad 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: Alcohol, Antisemitism, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual assault

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, and Xenophobia

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.