Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Angels Before Man by rafael nicolás

40 reviews

purrson's review

I couldn’t finish this, at least for now. As Lucifer

recovers from being assaulted in Eden, and shields Michael (again) from how God harmed him, he encourages the angels to harm a bird he’s taken from Eden, to see how far they’ll go for his approval, Something about that scene, even though I read past it, stuck with me, and became too much. It’s how visceral Lucifer’s pain is, how he’s spiraling out of control, but still so intelligent and sensitive. It was too painful to read somehow. I wanted someone to tell Michael so that Lucifer would have someone truly on his side, all the way, I wanted Justice for him, but we know how this story ends.

It was all too sad for me, maybe a little too triggering. It’s a beautifully written book. Maybe I’ll come back to it at some point in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Blood, Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

kayaisreading's review

dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Self harm, Sexual assault, Violence, Murder, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

erosugar's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Torture, and Grief

sapphicbookfae's review

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

this book made me go through a SERIES of emotions! and i enjoyed that

i really loved the sweet moments between the angels and my heart ached because of the heavenly emphasis on purity and obedience as goodness. these concepts are used so easily to control loved ones at times in a manipulative manner. and of course Lucifer's flawed but he went through so much and it's hard for me to hate this version of him

i will say that i hoped for a redeeming ending DESPITE the occurrences of coercive obedience, lack of autonomy, emotional and sexual abuse from those in positions of power. i think this book tells an "ugly" story quite beautifully and demonstrates the extremes that the above occurrences can lead to. the ending chapters did feel rushed to me and i was left wanting to know more about certain characters (maybe intentionally)

definitely give this book a read if you have religious trauma (LMAO) like me and maybe struggle with being honest about your queerness with your catholic religious family members... you get the extreme perspectives 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcohol

cyancookie's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Incest, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual harassment

troll_for_initiative's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Rape, Sexual assault, and Alcohol

reellyfish's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.75

I really enjoyed this book. However, I probably would not recommend this book if you’re christian/religious. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Sexual content, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Incest, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Blood

blasphemy

cakeboxing's review

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-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

4.5

As horrifying as it is beautiful, as pleasurable as it is disturbing.  This book had me totally, completely at its mercy. 
"Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable."

The writing style was unique. Most of the time, it was excellent and the prose elicited stronger emotional reactions from me than I would have thought. But I often found myself rereading passages multiple times to try and understand it, and came away forced to guess the implied meanings.

To me, the ending felt lacking, and a bit dissatisfying, but also leant true to the character of this version of God that had been built up in this book. 

If you want a book that will mess with your mind, heart, and (Christian) religious beliefs, this is the one to reach for. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, and Violence

Minor: Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Torture, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

madscanread's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

The slow corruption of a pure, innocent angel to a hysterical, unstable beast spurred on by a cruel, jealous father. A book to make you hate god viscerally and while not making you love Lucifer, it at the very least makes you understand and mourn for him.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, and Injury/Injury detail

lizardgod's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

• Spoiler Free Review
• Angels Before Man is a wonderfully written book and creative retelling of Lucifer's fall from Heaven. The way Nicolás begins the book as an airy, feel good fluff story but begins to slowly incorporate the themes of horror and manipulation is unlike anything I've read in a long time. As you read about the angels lives being wonderful and fulfilling, Nicolás will insert a scene regarding Lucifer that makes you think 'this is it, this is when things are going downhill', he pulls back in a subtle way to lull you back into a false sense of serenity. The gradual back and forth between horrific scenes and the wonders of Heaven put me on edge wondering so that when the climax truly began, it was capturing. The characters around Lucifer weren't static and the pain they go through is just as impactful as what Lucifer goes through. 
• I see other readers reviews stating they took the themes as 'homosexuality is a sin' and I do agree, but that's the point. Angels Before Man is a religious commentary overall, one that is angry and hurt with how God is portrayed and angry with the people who follow that god. If you haven't experienced religious trauma in a similar way, I understand why it may seem Nicolás is wagging a finger a being gay, but he is instead showing just how convoluted religion, in this case Christianity, truly is. While I would recommend Angels Before Man to those seeking a diverse LGBTQ story dripping with religious disdain, there are still points that draw from it leading to why I put it below a 5 star rating.  
•  I  appreciate when books, especially when it comes to themes of angels, make their characters diverse in not only personality but also in their race. My issue comes with the fact each time a darker colored character is introduced in many books, including Angels Before Man, they are compared to the color of food with instances such as a black angel having 'cocoa' colored eyes. It's only a few mentions, but one is still too many. 
• When the angels are addressing each other they all call each other 'brother' similar to other religions as a way to further ensure people do not stray from the religion to make it seem they would also stray from their 'family'. Even with this being said, it was still greatly off-putting that when angels (slight spoiler?) begin to be sexual with another and they continued to refer to each other as 'brother'. 
• The ending internal monologue was a struggle to get through. While I was focused on the events happening, Lucifer's internal monologue was an absolute drain. It's wordy and extensive with no real purpose after several instances of it. When his internal monologue begins to really pick up towards about 60% through, it's perfectly done, however by the end where his monologue is several paragraphs long of generalized religious symbolism I ended up just skimming through it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Incest, Sexual assault, and Vomit