ferns80's review
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Drug abuse, Grief, Terminal illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, and Violence
jacobmarley's review
- 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
4.25
Moderate: Grief, Gun violence, Body horror, and Drug abuse
Minor: Animal cruelty
ouijabroad's review
- 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 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.
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
caidyn's review
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Grief, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Cancer and Drug use
jillaay_h's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
Graphic: Cannibalism, Child death, Grief, Gun violence, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Drug abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, and Suicidal thoughts
tyler_j's review
This DNF has nothing against this book itself. The reason I can't finish it is highly personal.
I wish I could finish this book. It truly seems amazing and I believe if I could finish it i'd give it 5 stars. But I can't.
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Torture, Drug abuse, Cancer, Child abuse, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Medical trauma, and Violence
Moderate: Child death and Death
ruthypoo2's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Looking for a way to recover financial stability and win back his estranged wife, Mario embarks on a life of crime he sees as short term. An opportunity becomes available for Mario to join two friends for a high-paying job that promises to be the payday they all need to start over and leave behind their criminal pasts. Unfortunately, this last job takes them into the underbelly of a world where the strong survive eliminating rivals and punishing traitors, and in this world, spirituality harnesses not just God, but the Devil too.
Really well-written story and a good translation. The assorted people and various landscapes of their environments felt visceral and real. In a lot of books and movies, criminals and the poor are portrayed in a one-dimensional way, but in this book, the characters possess great intelligence and depth, and the reader may likely be exposed to a harsh reality that many people experience but many more are insulated from by virtue of their skin color, neighborhood, lineage, and sometimes just luck.
I listened to the audiobook, and the narration by Jean-Marc Berne was excellent.
Graphic: Confinement, Animal cruelty, Murder, Torture, Violence, Body horror, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Child abuse
Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Grief, Racism, Addiction, Blood, Cancer, Child death, and Racial slurs
Minor: Alcohol, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Medical content
vtleon715's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Gore, Child death, Murder, Gun violence, Grief, Violence, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
sarinac_reads's review
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Hate crime, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, and War
sofipitch's review
- 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? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Violence, Cancer, Vomit, Child death, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, and Death
Moderate: Addiction and Body horror
Minor: Racism, Racial slurs, and Transphobia