Reviews tagging 'Pandemic/Epidemic'

Entre Ciel et Enfer by Christopher Buehlman

49 reviews

cb1984's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.0

Good setting, interesting character dynamics and I really enjoyed the first 2/3 of it (maybe "enjoyed" is the wrong word - it's so dark you can barely make out the words. Trigger warning: everything!). But I found the last third very disappointing. 

There's lots of twists and turns in the last third, but it felt like a lot of them just kind of happened and then we just quickly move on, or they happened off-screen, or they were just written incredibly confusingly in a dream-sequence fashion. Those were all deliberate style choices and I can see what the author was going for and can understand if others liked them, but I wasn't a fan and it really detracted from the book overall. It's probably a 4.5 for the first 2/3 and a 2 for the last third.

The epilogue was absolutely lovely though. Very nice ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

avalete's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-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

There’s so much I can say and yet I don’t know what I could. Genuinely, one of the best books I will ever read. For sure. As soon as I started, I knew this book was going to be something special, and I’ll never experience anything like it ever again.

This is some of the best writing I have ever read. All of it. This book is horrifying and I love it so, so much. The war waging in heaven, the plague claiming France, the people trying desperately to survive. Thomas, Delphine, and Matthieu’s relationship to another and religion. The literal demons of hell they have to face along the way.

It feels truly hopeless and that God has abandoned man.

And yet.

I can’t in good conscience recommend this book without also warning that there’s a long, long list of content warnings to go with it. Just about anything one can think of is mentioned in this book in some capacity.

Still, this is an excellent book and I loved every moment spent reading it, and every moment I’ll spend thinking about it after.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Incest and Cannibalism

loafhart's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Homophobia

A lot of religious imagery, there is a scene of an attempted rape between the 2 main characters (one of which is a child) so beware... Also main character (thomas) might be homophobic but there isnt much detail or any more mention of it

sean_davy's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-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

Like The Last of Us set in a plague ridden France but the plague is actually the consequence of hell's lead in a holy war with heaven. Can't really sell it better than that. It even reads like a video game with the serialised monster encounters.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Excrement, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

poechedkrisps's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-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

I thought this would just be a metal, horror-filled read, but by God, the ending made me emotional and actually rejuvenated some of my own faith back.

While this book starts off really quite slow at first, it really ramps up in intensity and stakes midway through. And then when

it got to the epic battles, the way the devils and hell are depicted, the description and of angels—everything was just hook after hook.

I love books with paralleling ends and beginnings, and this one features this.

The ending quite literally parallels the beginning and even features a well-deserved epilogue for our main character's lost past.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Antisemitism

Minor: Rape

itsjustgrumpy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

Savage, brutal, heartfelt and hilarious. What an absolutely stellar religious grimdark tale.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Incest

honeypunk's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.5

I found this to be a wonderful read but with an execution that I felt sometimes let it down.
Unfortunately I feel like the action could be very confusing at times and not clear, which at very important moments left me feeling lost. 
It definitely didn't feel like a horror to me, more like a dark fantasy, which was a let down after I saw a lot of people raving about it being /the/ medieval horror. However the characters in this book hugely made up for it and I can't recommend it enough if you're a fan of complex morally grey characters, medieval vibes and father + daughter found family relationships. I never found myself enthralled in the plot due to how it was written, and moreso in the characters and what would happen to them.
 
You do need to check out the CWs before you decide to read it though, as the opening chapter starts on a heavy one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

spacetravels's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Cursing, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism

Minor: Sexual violence and Excrement

sofipitch's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.25

Overall a good book. It really delivers on horror, especially on a type that I feel is more rare but to me hits hard which is engaging in something you morally object to, it's a recurring theme of "you are what you do" which was interesting. It had what I felt was a lot of Christian themes, mainly redemption, while at the same time criticizing the institution of Christianity, so I can actually see this being popular with those who do and don't believe but raised with that religion. It has considerably less to say about Judaism and Islam, doing the "it's all the same God right?" thing which may annoy some.

Plot wise it dragged at times and I felt the way the major conflict resolved was a bit weak. But it manages to be both entertaining and thought provoking. Also does it's genre fiction, historical and horror, really well. I actually wish I knew more books of that combo of genres

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Sexual violence, Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Infidelity, Antisemitism, and Death of parent

hellsjerome's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

Such an amazing read, there’s a very unique feeling to this book that I’m afraid I won’t be able to find in another work. The monsters are so damn imaginative. I am incredibly scared of eels right now. Highly recommended to anyone who liked A24’s Green Knight.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic