Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock

41 reviews

snowiceblackfruit77's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, War, Cancer, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Misogyny, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Grief, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Stalking, Violence, Vomit, Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Excrement, Pedophilia, and Racial slurs

octopusarms's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Body horror, Grief, Violence, Cursing, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Blood, Murder, Death of parent, and Infidelity

hkveit's review

dark sad medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexual violence, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, and Suicide

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexism, Alcoholism, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Pedophilia, Racism, and Homophobia

eckit6776's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

i loved this book, i couldn’t put it down and the short chapters and pacing are mostly to blame. the characters development is hard to explain, arvin is definitely an antihero that i couldn’t help but root for. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racial slurs, Animal death, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, and Violence

Moderate: War and Religious bigotry

Minor: Sexual assault, Transphobia, Suicide, and Classism

taylorraven's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-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

3.5

This was a good book but I wouldn't recommend it. Look into the book a bit before reading it because there is a lot of things that can be triggering. 

Also it won't let me put this as a trigger warning but this book might be triggering if you have a religious based trauma (Christianity. I don't think any other religions are mentioned). 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Fatphobia, Suicide, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Ableism, Racism, Misogyny, War, Homophobia, Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Animal cruelty

mxpringle'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? Yes

2.75

One day maybe I will find a horror novel that doesn't include queer people and women without demonizing and/or victimizing them. I thought it was solidly enjoyable in terms of the writing, but I feel like a lot of the plot and topics explored are tropes that have been overdone, such as Southern small town murders, hitchhikers, etc., though these were intermingled with a few really cool new ideas. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Blood, Murder, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Torture, Sexual harassment, Rape, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gaslighting, Grief, Gore, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Alcohol, Body horror, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, and Stalking

Moderate: Pregnancy and Abandonment

Minor: Vomit

_bxllxe_'s review

challenging dark 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

3.75

Two words I would use to describe The Devil All The Time are grimy and fetid. You can smell the characters, and they stink. You can feel their oily sweat sliding down your forehead. I think my reading experience was robbed by the fact that I already knew everything that was going to happen. I’m not sorry I saw the movie first, though. It was REALLY good.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Gun violence, and Suicide

bumblebroxbeeblebooks's review

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

My favorite book of September 2022. Everything about this book was so messed up and wrong but it was so entertaining to read. I haven't listened to an audiobook or read something this fast in a long time. I'm really excited to watch this movie on Netflix.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Terminal illness, Violence, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

There is a ton of trigger warners for this novel so take that into consideration before reading this.

mxyfrzn's review

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I've heard this called rural noir and I think that fits. It's incredibly well crafted, and the kind of horror that's that drudging, sick to your stomach kind of dread. Can't say I enjoyed myself, but if you're looking for something that feels like a mix of No Country for Old Men and Season 1 of True Detective, this is a great pick.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Vomit, Rape, Trafficking, Torture, Infidelity, Gun violence, Grief, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Death of parent, Bullying, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Alcohol

augustinedreams's review against another edition

This book isn't dark, tense, or mysterious; it's slow and boring. And leaves me with a feeling of disgust; why is every woman in this book called slurs & participates in prostitution? There is no reason for it. This book has one to many problematic trigger warning to be redeemable.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Grief, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, and Sexism

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Vomit, and Violence