Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Angels Before Man by rafael nicolás

37 reviews

raineydayreads's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

imagine if angels could form a  union

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Blood, Cursing, and Violence

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Sexual content

ina_pages'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

4.75

I’d give this 5 stars if not for very minor grammar issues that I believe were addressed in the rewrite. I hope to get my hands on that since I also heard that new scenes were added to it.

This book pulled me out of a reading slump that lasted MONTHS. Rafael’s masterful prose will have you gripped from start to finish and will have you falling in love with characters literally against your own will. It was heartbreaking enough to read about a character you knew was doomed from the start, but this book makes you feel so much for Lucifer that watching his decent from grace was just that much worse.

Highly recommend this book to anyone who’s interested. The author lists down a set of trigger warnings at the start but they are only really applicable in the second half of the book. 

If you want a feel good, slow burn, romance-y book then maybe pick this up and just stop after part one (like skip the interlude even) but if you have the headspace for it part two is an intense rollercoaster ride of emotions.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Mental illness, Violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, War, Torture, Grief, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Murder, Sexual content, and Self harm

Minor: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

jaspilite's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Gore

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Torture

brdiaz1123's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Torture, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, War, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Gore, and Grief

Minor: Toxic friendship and Cannibalism

axel_p's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I am so torn between loving this book and hating it.
Lucifer had some great ideas but some of his other ideas were less ideal.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Classism, War, Child abuse, Blood, Dysphoria, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Mental illness, Animal death, Abandonment, Alcohol, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, and Violence

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, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Blood, Death, Physical abuse, and Torture

Moderate: Physical abuse

Minor: Sexual content, Rape, and Sexual assault

reila's review

challenging dark slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Self harm and Torture

minayana's review

challenging dark emotional sad 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

This was an amazing book. In part 1, we have the creation of Lucifer and how he learns to be an angel and build community. In part 2, we have the beginning of the end, with God becoming jealous and enraged by Lucifer’s love not only for Michael, but for his self love. I absolutely adored this book, and in my heart it’s a 5 star, but objectively, the last 25% did not live up to the rest of the book. My issue was the random stream of consciousness like writing. It seemed like the author was trying to evoke that feeling during movies where there are rapid fire screen changes during tense moments, with flash backs or imagery that hint at symbolism. It was very jarring and took me out of the story, and once I was back in, it would happen again. I understand what the author was doing, but it did not feel necessary or natural to the book as we already had such an amazing look into Lucifer’s mind. There were some punctuation issues as well, but that doesn’t really bother me. I absolutely plan on buying the revised edition at some point this year and rereading! I adored Lucifer and Michael, and Lucifer’s journey broke my heart. I cried multiple times lol. I cried before anything sad even happened cause I was scared for it to come lol.

Please check trigger warnings before starting the book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Animal death, Self harm, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Torture and Sexual assault

grandma_beth's review

dark emotional sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: Sexual assault and Toxic relationship

Minor: Animal death

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