Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Ritual by Adam L.G. Nevill

29 reviews

charlieeee's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Body shaming, Cursing, Xenophobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Fatphobia, Religious bigotry, Confinement, and Sexism

Minor: Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, and Kidnapping

The first part was fabulous. Some really good examinations of people growing apart; philosophy of life (for male-socialised people anyway); it was tense and had some great metaphors and other strong writing. And then part two happened where I would have sworn I was reading a completely different book altogether! The metaphors were over the top, made no sense in the context of the scene and the characters were really stereotypical - and the less about ‘Surtr’ and the constant repetition about her breasts, body and ‘smell’ of her genitalia the better. Was so disappointed by part two. So so disappointed.

And the reveal of the big beastie ‘the god’ in the woods at the end was such a let down. Everything was leading up to this point and the pay off was so disappointing - we barely get a paragraph. There’s letting your mind fill in the blanks and then there’s this.

awaywiththefairies's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Gore

broccoli_aesthetics's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

The first part in the woods is very tense and interesting. The stalking creature is damn scary and the characters are flashed out really well. Unfortunately I feel that the second part of the book falls flat:

the black metal band is honestly too stereotyped to be interesting

and I felt like it killed the mood.
The book then gets better again near the end

with moder and the white children

Overall, i still enjoyed the book quite a bit. 4/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Body horror, and Blood

Minor: Fatphobia, Body shaming, Racism, and Homophobia

tallesttrees's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

rivercat0338's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Physical abuse, Death, Blood, Body horror, Torture, Kidnapping, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Body shaming, and Gun violence

snazzy10101's review

challenging dark medium-paced

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

3.5

the vibes are wonderful (including the second half with the black metal band, i liked the change of pace) and the descriptions are baller. 
however. none of the characters are remotely likeable, and there are 2  female characters (one old lady, and one teen girl who is fat shamed AND sexualised).
there’s a lot of fat phobia 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Violence, Death, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Gore, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Murder, Addiction, Alcohol, Grief, Antisemitism, and Cultural appropriation

pastelbread's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Animal death, Death, Violence, Body horror, Blood, Torture, Fatphobia, Excrement, and Addiction

seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Fatphobia, Homophobia, Gun violence, Violence, Death, Gore, Blood, Cursing, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death

nutmegandpumpkin's review against another edition

I just found none of the characters likable and the pace to be extremely slow. As much as I wanted to finish it because it wasn’t that long of a book, I had to be real with myself that I wasn’t finding it enjoyable. Dare I say the most sinful thing a reader can say? “The movie was better.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, and Blood

Moderate: Vomit

sunduck's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Act 1 is absolutely solid. Act 2 has great moments but feels out of place.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Blood, and Body horror

Moderate: Animal death, Vomit, Violence, Stalking, and Murder