Reviews tagging 'Incest'

Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman

7 reviews

avalete's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

There’s so much I can say and yet I don’t know what I could. Genuinely, one of the best books I will ever read. For sure. As soon as I started, I knew this book was going to be something special, and I’ll never experience anything like it ever again.

This is some of the best writing I have ever read. All of it. This book is horrifying and I love it so, so much. The war waging in heaven, the plague claiming France, the people trying desperately to survive. Thomas, Delphine, and Matthieu’s relationship to another and religion. The literal demons of hell they have to face along the way.

It feels truly hopeless and that God has abandoned man.

And yet.

I can’t in good conscience recommend this book without also warning that there’s a long, long list of content warnings to go with it. Just about anything one can think of is mentioned in this book in some capacity.

Still, this is an excellent book and I loved every moment spent reading it, and every moment I’ll spend thinking about it after.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Incest and Cannibalism

itsjustgrumpy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

Savage, brutal, heartfelt and hilarious. What an absolutely stellar religious grimdark tale.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Incest

flintk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

madison_mls's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.25

It’s givinggggg The Last of Us but make it dark ages and biblical end of times :). No but this book genuinely had me repulsed, scared, and loving the adventure all at the same time!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Incest, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, War, and Injury/Injury detail

ndpmclean's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

4.25

This was truly dark and at times disturbing. Although, it was done in a way that did not turn me off but compelled me to keep reading and ensure these characters were safe. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Incest, Rape, Torture, Antisemitism, and Religious bigotry

jrmathison3's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• 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, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and War

seanml's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.75

Not always perfectly coherent, Between Two Fires is still one of the most original and unique horror novels there is. Taking place in medieval France during the sweep of the Bubonic Plague, the book mirrors a classic chivalrous Christian knight’s tale: a journey fraught with varying perils and moral trials to test the knight’s renown. But in this rendition our knight is excommunicate from the church and our perils are Lucifer’s second crusade, continuing on from Paradise Lost’s original war. Recommended if you want an original horror novel, with the caveat that the components of medieval Christianity (Sexism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, homophobia) are still part of the setting. 7.5/10.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Homophobia, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Outing, and Alcohol

Minor: Genocide, Incest, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Death of parent