Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman

19 reviews

tbd24's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

tbh I don’t know what I expected sandman to be but it wasn’t really this. I’ve read a decent amount of Gaiman books and I know this is super popular so I was thinking it would be a real crowning jewel but honestly I found most of it very boring. Maybe it’s just not my style, I’ve never been one much for grim dark. Also I know it was written in the 80’s but woof. Yikes, even. I hate to bring it up but with all the allegations against Gaiman, a lot of the treatment of women paints an unfortunate picture. It’s kind of crazy to me that I’ve never heard any criticism about these aspects of his writing. 

Idk the main part I liked was the epilogue so I might still end up reading the next one just to see if it’s more in that direction but I’m not hopeful

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, and Pandemic/Epidemic

garfieldtruther's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

This may be my favorite comic now. After Good Omens I thought Neil Gaiman's writing may not be for me, but I think I just wanted to see a faster-paced story from him. I recommend this for everyone, but skip 24 Hours if you can't stomach edgy 90's psycho horror. And skip the intro, it has spoilers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Child death, Homophobia, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Car accident

Minor: Rape

24 Hours is the one with most of the content warnings, but it is possible to skip.

It details a horrific episode of psychological torture and a worldwide epidemic of madness committed by Doctor Dee. All you need to know is he did unforgivable things with the crystal.

montybonty's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Blood and Car accident

Minor: Child death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Lesbophobia, and War

cleansky7's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

emry23's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Rape

bea_evans's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I am probably not the target audience here. As originally a comic series, it’s episodic, with a story developing in a longer arc. This is the first 8 comics in the series in one book. I don’t really like the art, but it’s evocative, dark and gross. The level of detail is impressive, however, and I probably missed a few things.

The story, of the accidental imprisonment of Dream, his eventual escape, and his quest to get back his tools, makes me wonder what the rest of the series is about. “The sound of her wings” is perfect, to me, because I thought, “okay what now,” and Morpheus was at the same place.

The other episodes are occasionally very violent and sometimes sexual. Definitely not for younger viewers, as they say. I’m sure the genre affected the storytelling. The inclusion of other DC characters was odd, to me. And, since I’m not a comic reader, I wasn’t always sure who was who. The myth and classical allusions are more my speed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement, Drug abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, and Blood

ericj32's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.5

This was very disorienting to pick up and try to follow without any context or familiarity with this world.  Lots of abrupt transitions and the first few issues felt very disconnected from each other.  The  last three issues seemed to kind of find their footing and the last one finally felt like a really enjoyable cohesive story.  I was ready to give up about halfway through but glad I stuck it out.  Overall it seems like a very messy and chaotic set up for what could be a really interesting character.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Drug abuse, and Suicide

shea_proulx's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Murder

unibadger's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

laurajeangrace's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Sexual content, Suicide, and Murder

Minor: Child death, Homophobia, and Death of parent