Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

21 reviews

dangselena's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

5.0

Insane. Very Jordan Peele-esque. Slow start but picks up around 40 pages in and keeps the pace from there. So hard to put down! Hard to put into words but as a White passing Latina, this book quickly put me in my place in the best way possible. The author places the reader directly into the shoes of two Black teenagers and really envelopes you in their state of hypervigilance and terror. The story reveals very quickly how easy it is for any small misstep to ruin their lives instantly. I thought having the dual narration was particularly interesting because of the different experiences of the characters. While both characters are Black,

Chiamaka is half Italian and comes from a wealthy background while Devon is dark skinned and living in poverty. The author really managed to show how their backgrounds give them very different views of how to solve their problems. While they’re both experiencing anti-black racism, the characters are treated very differently by their aggresors because of their upbringing and even their gender and sexuality.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Police brutality, Abandonment, Vomit, Blood, Grief, Homophobia, Violence, Car accident, Gaslighting, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Gore, Outing, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic friendship

theuncannydani's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Racism, Child abuse, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Stalking, Classism, Death, Car accident, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Drug use, Sexual harassment, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Confinement, Alcohol, Suicide, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Grief, Death of parent, and Sexual violence

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Cursing, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Drug abuse

sproutreads's review

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Racism, Stalking, Gore, Homophobia, Outing, Racial slurs, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Gaslighting, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Suicide attempt

m0rdred_the_fallen's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Una novela debut estelar, me quito el sombrero ante la autora. 

Como alguien que pasó toda su vida escolar siendo un alumno becado me identifique con Devon en varios aspectos, incluyendo la relación con su mamá. Soy hijo único, pero igual tuve claro desde un inicio que debía hacer todo lo posible por mantner un buen promedio y sobresalir por cosas buenas; como siempre me dijo mi propia madre 

Mi niño, tú no estás en esta escuela porque tu padre y yo tengamos dinero, sino porqué te tallas el lomo todos los días. El día que dejes de hacerlo, todo esto se va

Es una cruda verdad que los problemas que enfrentan los protagonistas sigan tan presentes y que, parafraseando a Chiamaka, les molesta más que les digas que son racistas al racismo en sí mismo; y se puede decir lo mismo de la homophobia, del clasismo, de los juegos de poder enfermos de estos grupos de odio. Aún cuando se nota que muy en el fondo saben que lo que hacen está mal, es un pobre consuelo para cuando usan su poder y sus recursos para atacar a inocentes. Tristemente, cuando el virus del fanatismo llega a la cabeza no hay nada que pueda hacerse por esa persona sino huir, pues el fanatismo y la estupidez nunca afectan a los que lo tienen, sino a aquellos que les rodean. Y lo peor del caso es lo compenetrado que está el sistema de ello, este sistema que no sólo promueve y protege actos de odio irracional; los demanda para seguir funcionando. El mundo moderno está construido sobre la sangre de generación tras generación de inocentes para el beneficio de unos pocos que se creen con derecho a todo.

En esta lectura sólo hubo una cosa que me dejó con ganas de más: 

El arrepentimiento Belle se me hizo que llevaría a un arco de autorreflexión y luego de redención en el cual Chiamaka y Devon le dicen, tal cual, que no pueden perdonarla, no después de 4 años planeando destruirlos, y Belle aceptándolo.

Que haya sido un grupo de manifestantes quienes los salven al último tiene mayor peso porque es una comunidad que los acoge y protege, en lugar un individuo de una clase opresora que tuvo una crisis de conciencia. Eso, estuvo genial.

Lo que a mí gustaría haber visto es Belle recolectando información de Ases, delatando a la periodista y exponiendo a todos los integrantes en Niveus, y quizá algunos de otras escuelas como es que haya conocido por cualquier cosa. Pero que aún así Chiamaka le diga que no, no es suficiente por todo lo que le ha hecho. Incluso cuestionarla sobre su cambio de corazón.

¿Y si no se enamoraba de Chiamaka? ¿Se le opone a Ases porqué es lo correcto o porqué están agrediendo a alguien que quiere como pareja?

Lo recomendaria 10/10

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Hate crime, Bullying, Car accident, Toxic friendship, Racism, Death, Physical abuse, Classism, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, and Outing

Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Sexism, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Body shaming, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Drug use

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

recycled_personalities's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

I cannot say enough good things about this book. I would rate it higher if I could. This has risen to the top of my list of books I’ll recommend forever.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Classism, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexism, Stalking, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Racism

Moderate: Grief, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Drug use, Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Medical content, Toxic friendship, and Suicide attempt

manoushp109's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

absolutely horrifying - i am not a reader who does well with thriller novels or anything but i just picked up this book bc the cover is beautiful and i had heard so much about it. a lot of the tw were handled pretty well and written well. i was scared almost the whole time i was reading it. the ending was a very satisfying one that gave me a lot of closure. didn’t like the main characters in the beginning but by 50-70% of the book in, i rly liked them

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Child death, Racism, Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death, Gore, Classism, Death of parent, Drug use, and Violence

Minor: Suicide attempt

anapthine's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Bullying, Car accident, Cursing, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Classism, Death, Homophobia, Murder, Mental illness, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, and Stalking

Moderate: Child abuse, Colonisation, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Gun violence

kaltenmark24's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, Death, Violence, Racism, Stalking, Classism, Blood, Car accident, and Gun violence

blackandwhitejacket's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense fast-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Outing, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Chiamaka’s gradual discovery of her own identity… so excellent. she would resonate with several of the points made on the Lesbian Masterdoc

_jasmine_'s review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Car accident, Death, Gore, Outing, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Death of parent, Drug use, and Police brutality