Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

El hambre by Alma Katsu

7 reviews

cvab's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.25

While a bit slow to get into (things started to amp up about 100 pages in), this was a very fun read. I'm not usually one for historical texts, but I can tell the author put a lot of care and passion into research for this novel. Piecing the story together through various characters' accounts made me feel as though I was a part of the wagon train myself, trying to figure out what was going on. The "big bad" is a very interesting premise, but I don't dare say more for fear of spoiling things. Great read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Pedophilia, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Outing, and Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Any and all sexual themes here (

rape, incest

) are used for horror purposes and not glorified or romanticized.

ehmannky's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

A creepy re-imagining of the Donner's Party slow and disastrous trek to California--the genre of "we are living through a terrible event in human history and there are also The Horrors trying to kill us too" remains undefeated. The book bounces back between the trek west and the constant problems that the party had and brief glimpses into the backstories of the POV characters. The weight of their secrets and sins slowly weigh them down as they get closer to Truckee Lake, even as they are hunted by horrid creatures consumed by their own hunger. I liked the way the creatures (which resemble a mix between werewolf and wendigo mythologies) come through as representations of the weight of these sins (which are mostly sins due to the constraints of the white "civilization" they're leaving behind), the violence inherent in the expansion west, and then the terror of experiencing nature in all its violence. Katsu does play a little fast and loose with history here, which is something she openly admits at the end in order to make a better story. 

I also really liked the juxtaposition of the Donner-Reed party with the glimpses of Native people that we see. I felt like the emphasis on how the white settlers hoarded their food, refused to cooperate even as everyone was literally starving, and just the general violence they turn to as a first resort was just a contrast to the emphasis on sharing food even with strangers. Even the tribe that does fall prey to the hunger creatures in the woods is that way because, as the text says, they were infected by this culture of individualism that comes from Europe in the form of a prospector. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia and Religious bigotry

Minor: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Suicide

smolhandsdan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Homophobia, Cannibalism, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

cantfindmybookmark's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, and Religious bigotry

nonfictionfeminist's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Racism, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, and Classism

thegr8estangell's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

The Donner party has always been fascinating to me. Being descendant of the Mormon pioneers who first settled Salt Lake City gives me more background information on the early pioneers. Having been raised with stories of those trekking westward since I was young, I've always been fascinated with tales from prairie. This book was really slow at first. It took a hot moment to get going, but once it did I didn't want to put it down. Evening knowing that most people in the party would meet their maker, I still was hooked. I loved the supernatural elements of the story. Wendigos are fucking terrifying. Being stalked out in the wilderness where nobody can help you is enough to make your blood run cold, but adding in skinwalkers? yeah, no thanks. I ordered the non-fiction books the author talks about in her acknowledgements to get more information. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

queer_venus's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Far more incest than anticipated? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation