Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Reprieve by James Han Mattson

28 reviews

queergoth_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

I was definitely expecting something different when I started this book. If I had realised it was more literary I don't think I would have been as disappointed as I was with this. 

Overall I think it was a good book but it wasn't really a horror and my expectations were all wrong. I didn't find sympathy for any of the characters except maybe Kendra and think she could have done this a bit more at the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Body shaming and Fatphobia

tiffanykhyla's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore

Moderate: Racism

mxajlikesbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gore, Infidelity, and Alcohol

alyon's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Racism, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Medical content

sunsetcity's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

abookwormwithwine's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Reprieve by James Han Mattson is one of those books where I don't really know what I just read, but I know that I liked it. It is described as social horror, which is a genre I had to look up to fully understand what it meant, and now that I do I can say that it is a clear representation. The weird thing is that I feel like a lot of this book went over my head and all of the characters were really hard for me to keep track of, and yet I can't say I didn't like it. I had no idea what to rate it, but the more I thought about it, the more I knew it deserved more stars than I was initially thinking. The plot ultimately leads to the murder and which contestant was killed, but the meat of this story is really about the different characters and a ton of various social stigmas. I really liked how the characters ended up tying together, but I am sure I missed some things as well.

The writing style Mattson uses in Reprieve is very unique as well, which I think is something major that will make it not for every reader. It was interesting to see how this translated into the audiobook, and I think if I ever do a reread, I would read the actual book and make a LOT of notes. The narrator of the audio is JD Jackson, and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about his narration. On one hand, I really liked it, but when I was looking at the book in comparison to how he was reading it, I think I missed out on a lot of inflections and emphases on certain words. This is a pretty long book, and the audio is at over 12 hours, so if you don't see yourself being able to sit down and read it, the audiobook would still be a good option. And do prepare yourself for lots of blood and gore. The Quigley House is downright terrifying, and I can tell you right now there is no way I would ever step foot in that place. I loved the escape room bit, but the things they had to do to get out are very graphic and disturbing. Reprieve is not a story for the faint of heart and that's for sure.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Racism, and Blood

Moderate: Homophobia and Violence

kylieqrada's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

Ok what in the actual Lord Jesus Hallelujah was THAT MESS?!?!?!? First of all, I could not put it down. I devoured it in like 3 sittings. Second, it scared the everloving pants off of me. I was very thankful for the breaks I got to sike myself up for the next cell. Third, the social commentary/social horror element of this was just everything. It was so worth scaring the sh!t out of myself to experience this. Life truly is the real horror. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Racism, and Blood

Moderate: Homophobia, Violence, and Death of parent

amyspag's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.0

This took me so long to get through and I wasn't sure how I felt the whole time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

unboxedjack's review against another edition

challenging dark tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, and Blood