Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman

9 reviews

zachbrumaire's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

wow

mixed feelings on this one

the first 3 parts functioned really well as environmental/climate fiction, the portrayal of society from the mundane to the metaphysical under the pressure cooker of the Black Death

part 4 was bold and weird and reorinted the narrative to more interpersonal papal court politics at the same time a shift from magical realism to a more ordered clash of capabilities and powers, and something was lost that made the first parts so weird and great. 

the end, especially the detentmont, was very neat and tidy, very just so, and while some of the surreal poetry of the earlier parts of the work reemerged the impression was one of a shift from the horrors of a heaven and earth abandoned by God to one micromanaged by  him just-cause.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

garrettcz's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I liked it, but it felt longer than necessary and the ending was pretty confusing. I kept having to reread parts of the end over again before I really understood what was going on. The last 15% could have been tightened up. 

The characters and dialogue were the best parts. 

It had a lot more horror tropes than I expected. Very dark in places. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Pedophilia and Rape

darkpizza's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Animal death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Excrement, Vomit, and War

flintk's review

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

silea's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

An unusual novel. The Black Death permeates every element of the story but isn’t the focus. Supernatural abominations are just one of the many challenges the people face. The stakes are huge but also small and personal. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Cannibalism, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Sexual assault, Torture, Excrement, Islamophobia, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Excrement, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Classism

mkyarian12's review

dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Murder, and Classism

kurumipanda's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual violence, Violence, Antisemitism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Torture, Xenophobia, Excrement, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, War, and Classism

Minor: Infidelity, Self harm, Suicide, and Vomit

silverleaf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Rape, Violence, Antisemitism, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Classism

rachelunabridged's review

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Fantastic read + definitely a new favorite for me! The plot and characters were amazing, and I loved every second I spent with this book. Can now say that I am a huge fan of medieval horror and obsessed with Christopher Buehlman's writing. He does an amazing job developing characters that the reader WILL get attached to, which is a huge reason why this story was such a hit for me. I found myself really caring about each of the main characters and invested in their personal journeys alongside the main plot. Just fantastic writing overall. Highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys horror, but especially if you're interesting in historical horror!

Also, I feel like I have to mention the fact that this book is heavily influenced by Christianity, but you don't have to be religious to enjoy it. I'm an agnostic atheist and didn't have any issues with the content. It's clearly just supposed to be a work of fiction that has themes that are relevant to the time period in which it takes place. The author doesn't try to push any beliefs off on the reader so, if this is a concern, you can relax and treat this as any other work of horror fiction.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual content, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and War