Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste

4 reviews

thegayestghost's review against another edition

dark fast-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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Blood, Death, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Abandonment, Confinement, Physical abuse, Violence, Domestic abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

vixenreader's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

A mixed bag of a novel, with great suspense and worth-building while suffering from trying to rely on the original texts in order to fill in characterizations and relationship dynamics. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Misogyny, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Cursing, Stalking, Confinement, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Sexual violence, and Infidelity

Minor: Animal cruelty, Medical content, and Sexual content

Beware of violence against women, mentions of mold and decay, vicious wild wolves, and deterioration of property.

mfrisk's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

I absolutely adored this book. I’ll be honest I haven’t read Jane Eyre or Dracula (though I’m aware of the stories enough to get the gist) but despite that I really enjoyed getting to know Jane, Bee, Lucy, Mina, and Daisy through this new lens. 

This book highlights what these stories left out through a reimagining of the stories of the women who fight monsters both in life and in death. And I mean monsters in a literal sense but also a figurative sense in terms of entitlement and manipulation by dangerous men which is a line this book leans into well. We see both these monstrous elements fully realized and in constraint we see the power of women able to fight back and reclaim who they are. 

The descriptions in this book of characters, settings, and the journey itself I thought were very vivid and if you haven’t been to San Francisco or LA this is a great read to transport you there. I could picture this book easily being made into a tv series or movie and am excited to read other books by this author in the near future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Gore and Blood

Minor: Abandonment

caseythereader's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Thanks to Atria Books for the free advance copy of this book.

 - Embarassingly, I've never read the original DRACULA, but I'm a big fan of JANE EYRE and any and all retellings, and I blew through RELUCTANT IMMORTALS in one sitting.
- I loved the reimagining of Bertha and Lucy as the main characters, trying to take control of their narratives even when trapped. And (MILD SPOILER) Mr. Rochester as cult leader is completely inspired.
- I didn't think all of the magical elements made total sense, but I was held in such suspense by the rest of the story that it didn't really matter. Pick this one up if you're in the mood for something weird, dark, funny, and unexpected. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Death, Blood, Cursing, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexual content