Reviews tagging 'Death'

Angels Before Man by rafael nicolás

27 reviews

nerdyspinster's review

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Physical abuse

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

theminnesotawitch's review

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

A book that blew me away. The prose is beautiful, and the style changes as the protagonist becomes more obsessed with himself. A queer retelling of the fall of angels.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, War, and Injury/Injury detail

okays1331's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

3.75

The author warns of all the graphic triggers in here and it is no joke. The wirld building and characterizations anre really well done and the story is horrific. 

It’s marked as a queer retelling of the fall of Lucifer. I don’t think that is central to the story. The characters are man-shaped but so is everyone. There is no real romance, the tender feelings of the two central characters tip over into obsession immediately. Sexual content is almost all violent and violating. 

Note: Sometimes difficult to read because of the way the author chose to format dialogue. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

mxfloral_'s review

adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Abandonment

nevermoregothic's review

dark emotional sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury

ladieswholunch's review

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

4.75

Brilliant, actually! I’ll be thinking about this one for a while. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing and Emotional abuse

loyddl's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

3.75

I enjoyed the story until it neared the end where Lucifer’s character change became prominent. For as much build up as it got it still felt abrupt and completely disconnected from the Lucifer we followed in the rest of the book. I think the problem was that near the end of the book Nicolás stops giving us Lucifer’s perspective on important events that would impact his dramatic character change. For most of the book we get intimate detail from Lucifer’s perspective and thoughts but more and more  writing was put toward other characters point of view. As a result, even though we see the pain Lucifer goes through, his later actions feel like they are too extreme and come out of nowhere. 

I also think the writing fell flat in the story’s resolution. For something so long built up it also felt anticlimactic. And again, we’re taken out of Lucifer’s point of view and only given a finale description of him rather than any though or emotions felt by him as a result of his actions. 

A finale thing I would have loved to see, especially in the finale act, is the development of Micheal. Without giving any spoilers, Micheal is important in Lucifer’s fall yet I don’t understand his actions near the book’s resolution based on the relationship between him and Lucifer that had taken half the book to develop. 

While I enjoyed the story, it’s setting, and it’s characters, the ending makes me hesitant to pick the book up again. The book is all buildup but does not explain some characters most extreme actions. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing and Sexual assault

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

justno's review

dark emotional reflective 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

4.5

"I know what the Lord dressed me in and what He handed to me, and inside, I can feel the detail He put into me. And yet, still, I’m so lost. I only want to be useful to Him, but I don’t know how. I want to know what He made me for, so that I can fulfill my role and uphold His splendor, but I don’t know how. It’s devastating to me.”

I would like to preface my review by saying that I was raised Christian, and so my experience really shaped my perspective on this book.

"Angels Before Man" questions the unquestionable: Could God not be good? Could Lucifer have a reason to do all evil? and it completely destroys you, because as you see Lucifer descent into madness and as all of his actions become more and more destructive you both wish to see the inherently corrupt nature in them while at the same time coming up with explanations for all of his actions.

The prose of this book completely destroyed me, it made me feel things I have not felt before with a book (I have around 100 highlights on my Kindle, THAT'S how much I loved it) it painted both the beautiful and bright picture of paradise and also the grim and painful reality of suffering that came with Lucifer's fall.

"Lucifer, quietly, had asked if angels were also made in pairs. “Angels are perfect,” He’d replied, “they are whole, and they are eternal.” There was no need for them to devote themselves to anyone but their Father."

Lucifer and Michael's relationship is beautiful, there's a clear connection between them, an understanding, and a desire that's doomed from the start and even when everything was falling apart their love, or the remnants of it were the only thing still standing.

 
In my very personal experience I related to Lucifer sometimes, his questions were questions I have asked before, his anger I have felt, his confusion I understand. And in a way I also understand Michael, his duty and the truth that holds him down, no matter how much he loves Lucifer his existence is dependent only on God. 

Also I read this during Holy Week, and while at church, which is a little funny in retrospect

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, and Abandonment

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