Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Entre Ciel et Enfer by Christopher Buehlman

88 reviews

bforcs's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad 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


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thelonelywizard's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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

That was certainly a lot! My god. The ending gutted me, RIP to a real one (Pere Matthieu)

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wasserglanz's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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


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cb1984's review against another edition

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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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archaicrobin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I had high hopes for this medieval horror book mostly due to all the praise this one has received, but unfortunately Between Two Fires fell short for me.

The writing style is abrupt and brash which suits the story and the setting, but it does make connecting with the characters at first a little hard, or at least it was for me.  I found it hard to feel attached to anyone until more than halfway too the book and at that point it’s too late.

The story itself is interesting and my favorite part was all the crazy demons they encounter but something was missing for me. Between Two Fires is a well written story and you can tell the writer is knowledgeable but I was never intrigued enough to want to pick this one up. I honestly don’t understand all the hype behind this novel. It’s fine, but not great.

 

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avalete's review against another edition

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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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loafhart's review against another edition

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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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rabidreading's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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


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sophiacongdon00's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0


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sean_davy's review against another edition

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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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