Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Godly Heathens by H.E. Edgmon

14 reviews

readingwithkaitlyn's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Murder, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Violence, Body horror, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Blood

Moderate: Self harm, Grief, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Animal death, Ableism, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, War, and Transphobia

Minor: Slavery, Racism, Genocide, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Infertility, and Child abuse

krisalexcole's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Mental illness, Death, Gore, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Vomit, Child abuse, Colonisation, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Torture, Animal death, and Body horror

Minor: Infertility, Pregnancy, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, War, Alcohol, Child death, Death of parent, Racism, Transphobia, and Cursing

lycangrrl's review

challenging dark emotional 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

Another stunning book by H.E. Edgmon. It took a little bit for me to get into it (you're kinda just thrown into everything without a lot of explanations and books that start like that are often a bit difficult for me because I get frustrated not knowing what's going on) but once I got a few chapters in, I was completely engrossed. 

Gem is a nonbinary teen living in Seminole, GA. They are unabashedly queer and are always charming their peers. Underneath however, they are an anxious mess. Not least of all because they worry they are losing their sanity. They have visions of being a god called the Magician and helping another god, The Shade, murder the other god in the pantheon. Gem's father is mentally ill and they worry that, as much as these seem like visions or memories, they are actually hallucinations. Their only true confidant is a trans boy named Enzo who lives in NY. 

A girl named Willa Mae comes to their school and we find out that she is one of the gods, Gem is the Magician, and they actually sent all the still living gods to this realm a long time ago and they keep being reborn and will continue to do so unless Gem is killed with a specific weapon which will allow the gods to return home. It is slowly revealed that other teens in the town are reincarnations of the gods and they are all slowly remembering what has happened to them. Some new girls come to town and begin going after Gem to try and kill them, all eventually leading to a final confrontation with Gem, Willa Mae, and Enzo against the gods who want to see Gem destroyed.

An amazing story with many twists and turns that really drew me in. I was in love with Enzo immediately and love where his story ended up going. And that cliffhanger ending! Can't wait for the second book to see how everything unfolds.

ARC provided by NetGalley

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Murder, Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, Drug use, Dysphoria, Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, and Alcohol

ezwolf's review

challenging 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Gem Echols is a trans high school student just trying to make it out of their small town to be with their maybe love interest in college. That all changes when they meet Willa Mae who reveals that the dreams Gem has had are actually memories of a previous life and they are the reincarnation of a god. 

I thought that Gem was pretty funny at the start of the book and I was on my way to being endeared to them. But somewhere along the way I realized that I didn’t really like them. Or Willa Mae. Or Enzo. I love morally grey characters and they don’t have to do good things but I do need to like them on some level. 

But there are a lot of good things about this book and I think a lot of other people will like it. It's got good trans representation, Native representation, discussions of colonization as well as mental illness. 

I still look forward to reading the author’s other books and would recommend this to people, it was just missing ~something~ for me. 

Thank you to NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Death, Murder, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Dysphoria, Grief, Gun violence, and Mental illness

Moderate: Sexual content, Self harm, and Vomit

Minor: Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Bullying, and Transphobia