Reviews tagging 'Classism'

The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias

12 reviews

amandadelbrocco's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, Torture, Murder, Death, Gore, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Drug use, Addiction, and Classism

Minor: Suicide attempt and Suicidal thoughts

ouijabroad's review

slow-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

1.0

I slogged through this one. I feel like this happened for several reasons. The first one being that there’s sooooooooo much fluff before the “action” begins (I use action loosely and I’ll get to that). This book could have easily been a novella in my opinion and summed everything up much faster, however I still don’t think it would’ve been a worthy enough story to tell.

I knew going in that the characters weren’t likable and I’m fine with that. The thing is I didn’t care about them, the story they were telling or what happened to them. The beginning was sad and I had empathy for Mario’s financial struggles and how healthcare is a sick joke, but that’s about all I felt the entire book.

The messed up and sometimes (weirdly and randomly) even supernatural things that happened had no explanation and the violence was purely there to shock the reader. 

The author cannot write women, he is as bad as Stephen king. Any woman is just there to further plot and they're either reduced to their looks and bodies or viewed as a mother figure (or both like Stephanie!).  Also really loves telling us about fat folks because that totally adds to the story. And all the fat folks were objectively bad people. 

I didn’t dig his writing style; This author really likes to use similes at a distracting rate. 

Now, the “action” during the climax: it was such a dud. All this lead up and exposition with so many unexplained happenings, violence and then it’s just over. I can’t believe I spent so long trying to get through this one. I wish I had put this in the DNF pile.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Addiction, Cancer, Cannibalism, Classism, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

bando_bauldio's review

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Ok I thought this book was incredible. It was like no other horror book that I’ve read. My biggest problem with the book is actually that my mans Gabino Iglesias basically recycled the same friend Jake creature tale from his short story There’s Always Something in the Woods (I don’t know which came first tho). It would have been cool as a world expansion thing, but the stories are retold almost word for word. It felt lazy and made me lose some respect for the author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Xenophobia, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Addiction, Child death, and Classism

shawnthulhu's review against another edition

<Spoiler> I just can't get past them torturing a child for religious gain...written in detail. I get there is likely metaphor there. But that was hard to read and it made me feel too uncomfortable and I wasn't prepared for it in any way. Read the trigger warnings before you pick this one up so you know what you're getting into.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Religious bigotry, Medical content, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Gore, Grief, Emotional abuse, Classism, Death, Body horror, and Addiction

sophiaangela's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Medical content, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Death, Racism, Classism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Addiction, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, and Murder

bookmark3brodi's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Blood, Body horror, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Death, Gore, Pregnancy, War, Murder, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Cultural appropriation, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Grief, Cancer, Cursing, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Violence, Addiction, and Chronic illness

kermit_the_wrong's review

I really wanted to like this one but I think it just isn't for me. It left me feeling kind of sad and gross whenever I would listen to the audiobook, and not in a good way. 

I've heard it compared to This Thing Between Us, and I can see the similarities in how it explores grief, but it didn't have that same feeling of cosmic horror.

I do appreciate the themes of this book and the writing. I just don't particularly like the heavy feeling of it. I may go back to this at some other point in time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Murder, Pregnancy, Classism, Child death, Grief, Gun violence, Blood, Terminal illness, Violence, Gore, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Medical content, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Toxic friendship

avvyella's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Body horror, Violence, Child abuse, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Grief, Murder, Gun violence, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, and Child death

Minor: Suicide and Transphobia

wai's review

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, Physical abuse, Cancer, Classism, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Murder, Gore, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Blood, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Torture, Addiction, Child abuse, and Child death

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Transphobia

kingsteph's review

adventurous challenging 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, Body horror, Murder, Terminal illness, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Classism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Cursing, Racism, and Racial slurs

Minor: Transphobia and Suicidal thoughts