Reviews tagging 'Blood'

L'età del male by Deepti Kapoor

30 reviews

bodiesinbooks's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

deagaric's review against another edition

challenging dark funny 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Enthralling story with a wide array of characters and POVs. This is a multifaceted story about dirty money and the people behind it in the cities and backcountry of India in the 1990s and early 2000s. Very unique setting and a (mostly) fast-paced, insane plot filled with mind-numbing wealth, deception, violence, and forbidden love.

I loved the unpredictable story line and the family saga aspect of the tale. Though I strongly recommend glancing at the trigger warnings before starting this book (the continued rape and sodomy of a minor is very explicit and highly disturbing and I genuinely wish I had skipped reading those chapters), Kapoor also adds in details about the strengths of human bonds and the need for secure attachment to others even when raised around violence and neglect. Quite a few comedic moments as well, particularly from Sunny's assistant, Eli, towards the end.

I also liked learning about India's geography and spent a decent amount of time googling up the places so I can imagine the setting more clearly. The author was born and raised in northern India and I think brings a special expertise to capturing it as a backdrop to the story.

The reason I give this a 4 rather than 5 is the weird pacing; it'll be 100mph for dozens of pages, and then slow down into a school-zone pace for a 100 more. Particularly around the point of Book/Section 3 and 4, the story became a slog, and took willpower to push through to the end. I assume a lot of the seemling unnecessary backstory will become important in the second and third book of this trilogy, so keeping my eyes peeled for that!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Gore, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Child abuse, Torture, Abortion, and Death of parent

cstewart88's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

shanaetheflyest's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

juliatfowler's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

There is a lot of gratuitous violence in this book. Good to read own voices but this book was too long. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

naireeb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lindsayerin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

maregred's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

bookshelf_al's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Infidelity, Police brutality, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Abortion

noble_editorial's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

This author is a superb talent, so it truly saddens me to withhold my review until HarperCollins agrees to meet with its employees and negotiate a fair deal with the union. A living wage and diversity in publishing are critical issues that HC is choosing to ignore.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Trafficking, Car accident, Murder, and Classism