Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Smaller and Smaller Circles by F.H. Batacan

10 reviews

ravenph's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Medical content, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Sexual harassment

unidentifiedfilipinoobject's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

itzjez's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia and Kidnapping

Minor: Child abuse and Sexual assault

helliepad's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

The author mentioned that she wrote this book feeling angry at the justice system and corruptness present in all Philippine bureaucratic and civil systems. I can feel it, and I can understand it.

What's worse is that though this book was written in the 90s, edited in 2013, and I've read it in 2022, this could have very well been a contemporary novel still set in my current time, or perhaps even in my grandchildren's time. It is the first time I've seen priests being involved investigators in crime novels instead of just witnesses.

Every single character in this book is dealing with decades of moral muck and personal issues and I don't have any poetic words for it. This is a situation that happens every day and I'm too familiar with the helpless, bleak feeling of the Philippines' extrajudicial system to even be surprised at it.

Very honest portrait.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical content, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

itskayleighlove's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

cursedepub's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, and Murder

talkbookswithangela's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, and Blood

mepitts's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

Very much enjoyed the Philippine and Catholic context and the narrator’s accents. Struggled with the extremely detailed graphic nature of the crimes being investigated. (Seems like in these morally ambivalent days, for a protagonist to have moral authority he has to be battling some kind of “violence porn”) Even so, recommended.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, and Blood

ssconsequat's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical content

alicelalicon's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Blood

Moderate: Police brutality