Reviews

The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias

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carlysgrowingtbr's review against another edition

5.0

The Devil Takes You Home is a medium paced suspense thriller with horror elements that challenges your senses and your sanity.

Martin is dealing with a lot of grief. The death of his daughter and the loss of his marriage. To try and reclaim his marriage and finance a new start, he decides to take a dangerous job stealing from a cartel. It's supposed to be easy money, but is there really such a thing? Steeped with mythology and religious symbolism, this thrill ride takes you on a trek through the dark underbelly of Mexico, challenges the racism felt by many around the world and ends with a punch you never saw coming.

The mixture of Spanish and English really adds to the realism and the vibe of the story. For this Spanish speaker it was no problem, non speakers might want a translator app handy. But really, the vibes make it easy to guess at if your reality resistant to translation. Highly recommend to check your triggers. Some of the content might be hard to read for some readers.

jordanzinda's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

dr_dr_olshakes's review against another edition

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The author just didn't sell me on this guy becoming a cold killer.

I may go back, given my interest in Latinx horror, and representations of cartels. But also, I'm don't with the dissertation and degree so there's not really a need to slog my way through mediocre horror 🤷🏽‍♀️

kdwhite's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense slow-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

Content Warnings

questionablereads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.25

Dark and captivating story that follows Mario, a man who has dealt with unbelievable tragedy and battles that sadness with bad decision making, while also being hyper aware of that fact. I felt for Mario, hell, I cried for Mario. This book made me feel everything and I loved the Spanglish and Puerto Rican culture woven within the story.

Content Warnings