Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

40 reviews

rhhapsodos's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, and Death of parent

Moderate: Misogyny

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

julianimal's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Blood

Moderate: Death of parent, Cursing, and Murder

allthembooks's review

adventurous dark mysterious 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? No

4.0

A very dark vampire neon-noir novel. Centered around two very different characters:
1. A 17 year old boy from the streets, that has ben through a lot of horrible things but still sees the world with hope and positivity.
2. A 23 year old vampire girl, that had everything and lost it all. Full of cynicism and violence trying to survive. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Death

wenwanzhao's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Shoutout to this book for breaking my reading slump. I have never been much of a vampire genre reader, but this concept intrigued me. I liked how focused the plot was. Sometimes I feel like authors try and do multiple different plotlines, and end up losing the thread. Certain Dark Things is entertaining and thrilling throughout. Awesome lore. Realistic characters. Great read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Body horror, Gun violence, Violence, Death of parent, and Blood

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

Multiple POVs and a great modern take on a classic spooky creature- vampires. So many different kinds of vampires from different places are mentioned throughout which was nice to see instead of the typical/well known european vampire images we see all the time. How some characters stories ended was a little unsatisfying though, but I need to stop thinking so many characters always need happy or fully fleshed out endings. This story also touches on colonialism when talking about the europeans and their continental vampires arriving in central and south america.

very glad the dog doesn't die tragically in this book! I was nervous and a bit sad when Cualli was mentioned to probably be dead

Also quick note, I felt a bit weird about how Atl and Domingo's relationship went considering it was mentioned she was about 20 (yeah I get she's a diff species but still) and he was 17. I know at first she was like "no way" and had set that boundary, but then they did the do and I was not okay with an adult/minor situation

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It seemed to drag a little bit in some parts, but overall, a great and surprisingly quick read. I've enjoyed so much from this author and it's a goal that I read everything she has done. 
Def check out content warnings for this as it is a vampire tale so there is a lot of blood.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Vomit, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Violence, Blood, and Misogyny

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Sexual content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Colonisation, Gun violence, and War

Minor: Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Torture, Trafficking, Classism, Cursing, and Kidnapping

theomancy's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.25

I was just so not sold on the central romance of this book and the conclusion of it left me really dissatisfied. There were a lot of world building concepts at the beginning I found really interesting that I didn't feel like really went anywhere either, unfortunately.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Classism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Xenophobia, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Stalking, and Police brutality

louisegraveyard's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Death, Death of parent, and Gore

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Sexual assault

narsere's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Child abuse, Sexual content, and Animal cruelty

bookbunnie's review

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Read this if you’re interested in the histories and abilities of multiple vampire subspecies, love a sweet and simple lovestruck character, and enjoy the classic dynamic of detectives, cops and criminals all being equivalently crooked. 

Don’t read this if you want the elegant prose of ethereal vampire angst, need a lot of character development to be satisfied, or want a villain with substance. 

This book explores the characters’ different relationships to solitude in part by examining their living conditions and in part by their actions taken to preserve, avoid, or accept their loneliness. 

It was a simple and easy read, gritty but not unpalatable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Vomit, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Alcohol, Gore, Death, Death of parent, and Misogyny

Moderate: Gun violence, Police brutality, and Genocide

Minor: Confinement

ruthjenkins's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

The author does a good job creating a rich and diverse world of vampires and narcos, without description impeding the story. There are a few bits of exposition dialogue but they mostly make sense in the context of those characters.
The story is a little slow to get started, since the protagonist is in hiding so isn't doing a huge amount, but when the action gets going it becomes quite tense, and very violent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Vomit, Blood, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Death and Death of parent

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Torture