Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

John Dies at the End by David Wong

2 reviews

pinkmalady's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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

4.5

Laugh out loud funny, psychologically horrifying, and gut-wrenchingly volatile... This is the exact kind of thing I will be thinking about for a long time. The way it handles mental illness and trauma targeted me specifically in such a deeply visceral way... The narration perfectly captures how it feels to lose your mind.

I adored the characters and their relationships. While I went into this mostly blind, I knew prior that

Amy and Dave would end up together. I'm honestly surprised at how well their relationship and their respective traumas relative to their relationship were fleshed out. It absolutely makes you feel for these two. Especially when Amy's life is on the line.

This book stressed and stresses me out. I'm afraid that if I think too hard about it I'll start spiraling... Going in, I had the feeling this book would rearrange my brain chemistry, and I believe it didn't fail. It's utterly chilling, and I don't usually spook easily when it comes to horror.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, Violence, Racism, Racial slurs, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Drug use, Body horror, Blood, Cursing, Excrement, and Gore

Moderate: Vomit, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Car accident, Animal death, Ableism, and Alcohol

Minor: Rape, Antisemitism, and Suicidal thoughts

yikesofikeso's review against another edition

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

2.0

While under the guise of comedy, Wong loves using slurs and racist/sexist/ableist language to make a generally uncomfortable story. I was especially uncomfortable when he assumed a girl was mentally retarded and hated her and mocked her relentlessly for years, only to realize she was perfectly neurotypical and immediately be in love with her and have her love him back. Now that’s good writing. Yikes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Racism, Xenophobia, Sexism, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Fatphobia, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Cursing, Body horror, and Blood