Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias

56 reviews

rbz39's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Transphobia

mcordell's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Torture

Moderate: Child death

nithya_natalya's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

True to the descriptions, this book was genre-bending, and I loved that. It wasn’t a typical horror novel, but sort of naturally blended horror elements into hyper-gritty realism. None of the supernatural elements felt out of place. I thought that at times the points that the author made about racism were heavy handed. But maybe being heavy handed is a good thing. One star deducted for his depiction of women. I felt like most of the women were not multidimensional at all. I think that might have been part of the point. The character sort of mythologized the women in his life, rather than seeing them as real people. But sometimes it was hard to tell whether it was intentional or just the authors own biases leaking through? 

One note: there is a good amount of Spanish mixed into the novel, although it is mostly written in English. I would recommend not trying to translate those sections if you don’t understand them. Writing parts of conversations in Spanish was an artistic choice. Imo, non Spanish speakers are not meant to know what’s being said. That’s part of the experience of it. Spanish speakers will catch everything and non-Spanish speaker will miss things, feel lost, or not fully understand. And to me, that is part of the point of the artistic choice that was made. If not understanding what’s going on makes you feel uncomfortable, sit with that! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, and Cannibalism

wyabook234's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Racism, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Child abuse and Domestic abuse

lastbloom's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad

• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, and Gun violence

book_creature's review against another edition

dark 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse and Transphobia

Minor: Animal cruelty

jaimee_reads's review against another edition

Nothing particularly bad about the book, but I've tried twice to read it and lost interest both times. It's a very slow burn.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

rhadden's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.0

An incredibly gripping and intense horror noir from an exciting new Puerto Rican author. Firmly entrenched in Trump's America, it tells the story of a father who becomes a hit-man to deal with the medical debt brought on by his daughter's pediatric cancer. On his way to a huge final score, he 

encounters many monsters, from drug-addled allies, to bigoted Proud Boys, to things beyond the realm of human understanding. Tragic, violent and freaky... an absolutely unique and excellent horror thriller.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Torture, and Murder

doomluz's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I like the mix of Spanish words and phrases, though I’m not sure how much non-Spanish speakers might be able to understand some of them.
It starts sad, but then it gets really intense. It has some supernatural elements, but for the most part it's gritty and realistic, in a gory and violent way.
Overall, it was a great book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Child death, and Misogyny

Minor: Transphobia

jennifer_bush_73's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail