Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden

9 reviews

monicadee88's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-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

Incredible debut novel! It's a genre-bending rollercoaster of an adventure that starts off fast and never slows down. The varied characters are dynamic, each flawed in their own way and yet sympathetic and redeemable. Drayden created a fantastical futuristic world, but I wish there was deeper world-building and an overall longer story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, and Violence

sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book, it was a lot of fun and I was honestly excited to get through this story to find out what happened in the end. I loved all the characters other than Muzi's friend, Mr. Tau, and Sydney. I really love how chaotic the story was but it was perfect because it still made sense and what was happening was very clear. The blend of fantasy, sci-fi, and mythology was just a breath of fresh air, honestly. 

I will be taking a star off because a character repeatedly misgendered a trans woman at the end of the story and because

Mr. Tau is a child rapist and had the nerve to cry about feeling "guilty". Bro, end yourself, no one cares about your tears. I also hated that Numvula's mother slut shammed/victim shammed and humiliated her in front of the damned town. The mother paid for it promptly afterwards and so did 2,600 people, if I read correctly.

One last issue I had with the story is that the ending felt really rushed, I would have liked a bit more of the story towards the end. 

All in all I really enjoyed this story, it was so fun and exciting to read. 

I'm giving this 4 out of 5 stars!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Body horror, Child death, Death, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Rape, Animal death, Gore, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Drug use, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Pedophilia, Cursing, Drug abuse, and Police brutality

toopunkrockforshul's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book was such a great mix of sci fi and fantasy! Loved the balance of robots and gods and pop stars, as well as the variety of queer characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Blood, Gore, Abandonment, Death, Torture, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Transphobia

bookbunnie's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny sad tense fast-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

2.0

I wanted so badly to love this, but finishing it was an absolute chore. 

The plot didn’t really exist. I didn’t care at all about the outcome because I wasn’t even sure what was happening. 2 of the main characters could have been removed and it would have barely changed anything. This felt more like the author wanted to put as many whacky things in one book than they wanted to have a cohesive plot to tie the concepts together. 

It’s like, saying the selling points of the novel make it sound incredible- who doesn’t want to read about a clash of AI and gods? Turns out, about halfway through the book, I didn’t care because the plot fell out. The world building was also sparse and not immersive. The present except there’s some weird robots that feel too retro to actually be futuristic. 

There was also some child abuse throughout the entire novel that did not sit well with me, as well as a bizarre stance on chronic pain that could have been interesting but became too convoluted to make sense. 

There were some funny one-liners and a cute gay relationship that I enjoyed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Gore

Moderate: Sexual assault and Transphobia

tascaraudo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious fast-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

What a wonderful world Drayden has given us. I loved the characterization of the robots. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Murder, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Violence, and Rape

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Transphobia

laguerrelewis's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.25

This book is so creative and such a fun read. A strange ragtag cast of rotating perspectives in an engaging, fantastical world that blends Afrofuturism with demigods and magic. I will say there are some odd elements, like a character who is deadnamed for a large part of the book (although this was part of their journey of coming out), and a one minor character was introduced as a r*pist, but I do think that at the end of the day this was worth the read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, and Vomit

ambientcrows's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Drug use, Gore, and Grief

Minor: Rape

caseythereader's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny tense 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? Yes

4.0

 - Well, if this isn't one of the weirdest books I've ever read in my life! Drayden has a dozen ideas here that would all be excellent novels and she's crammed them all into one wild ride.
- I've seen some reviews complain about the number of narrators, but I really enjoyed the many points of view. Given how much was going on, it felt like I was seeing many sides of the action.
- One big thing that dragged this down for me was the implication that the disabled character couldn't fully access her joy and artistic talent unless she was actively in pain. I understand how that concept integrated with the overall plot, but it felt icky at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

zombiezami's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was beautifully written, and I enjoyed the characters and worldbuilding. The ending felt a bit rushed, but I liked the journey overall. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Blood, Gore, Violence, Murder, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Drug use, Physical abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Cursing, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Vomit, Genocide, Body horror, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Excrement and Eating disorder