Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman

33 reviews

thepeach77's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

The book is very dark, a lot of violence and gore. The book deals with demons and the 7 deadly sins. The religious beliefs of the area during the time leans towards a bit of antisemitism, but it is not a main point and it is obvious that it is not supported by the author, just part of the historical context.

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

marthadude's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Heavy emphasis on plague. There’s also a lot of near misses of pedophilia/sexual assault of a minor. It doesn’t end up happening but the mentions/threat of it are brought up pretty frequently

directorpurry's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• 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, Child death, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Antisemitism, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Animal death, Xenophobia, and War

Minor: Grief and Death of parent

zachbrumaire's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

wow

mixed feelings on this one

the first 3 parts functioned really well as environmental/climate fiction, the portrayal of society from the mundane to the metaphysical under the pressure cooker of the Black Death

part 4 was bold and weird and reorinted the narrative to more interpersonal papal court politics at the same time a shift from magical realism to a more ordered clash of capabilities and powers, and something was lost that made the first parts so weird and great. 

the end, especially the detentmont, was very neat and tidy, very just so, and while some of the surreal poetry of the earlier parts of the work reemerged the impression was one of a shift from the horrors of a heaven and earth abandoned by God to one micromanaged by  him just-cause.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

callandor19's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective 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

4.0

Right up my alley. The French side of the Hundred Years' War and the apocalyptic perception of life during the Plague were both interesting new perspectives to me. The "lone wolf and cub" setup has the potential to be obnoxiously saccharine or tropey, but I think Buehlman strikes a good balance here. Brutal and horrifying as fits the setting, plus an extra layer of brutality and horror due to the overt supernatural stuff, but the latter doesn't feel like it comes at the expense of stakes or credulity.

RE: Bingo, the POV character is a brigand who has deserted from the French army after the battle of Crecy. Even though the world is generally lawless after the plague's outbreak, he and his companions are definitely still considered criminals.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Cannibalism

hihicass's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, Excrement, Antisemitism, Murder, and Sexual harassment

robotfanclub's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and War

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Vomit, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury

hamstringy's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

Unexpectedly really emotionally resonant! Pitched via Twitter as medieval Black Plague horror, and it’s definitely horror but a much quieter and disturbing horror rather than a nonstop onslaught of Big Events. Also somehow still very vulnerable and three-dimensional when approaching characters who have lived some contradictory and not-so-great choices. 

It’s also a particularly humanizing portrayal of a pandemic & a deeply religious response to that pandemic. It’s interesting to me that a lot of the attitudes around *somehow still living during horrible times* match very closely with the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Torture, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and Grief