Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Angel of Indian Lake by Stephen Graham Jones

37 reviews

sofipitch's review against another edition

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? No

4.5

An excellent ending to this trilogy. All three books analyze a different part of the slasher formula, book 1 being the final girl, book 2 the slasher and their motivations. Now this one analyzes the endings. At one point it's mentioned that slashers are conservative in genre in that the goal is often to return to how it was in the beginning. That is what a lot of this book is in conversation with, is this really the only ending?
The other strength of this book is Jade's voice, as always. The downside is potentially how little is added to the world and story, this truly wraps up the last two books, doesn't contribute much that's new

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Pedophilia

ehmannky's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-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

5.0

I think this might be one of the best conclusions to a trilogy that has ever existed. The incorporation of horror rules (the Scream 3 rules are references explicitly by characters), the emphasis that the Final Girl does not exist without a community and family supporting her, the idea that to truly cure what ails a toxic society requires you to go and right the original wrong that was committed there and that the original wrong is violence against Native people, specifically Native women...everything is flawlessly done. The prose is beautiful, I was so invested in the characters... truly one of the best endings of a trilogy I could imagine. It is ridiculously violent, with so many deaths that are pointless in that if the characters had just listened or been more careful, they would have lived, but again serve to emphasize the point of a toxic culture leading to more and more easily avoidable deaths. 

 

It has been a while since a character's death hit me so hard, but Banner's had me spiraling in the kitchen at 11:30 p.m. I was so, so sad about it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Child death, Gun violence, Blood, Gore, and Animal death

Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape

Minor: Self harm, Racism, and Pedophilia

zelephante's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gore, Violence, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Body horror, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Vomit

browneyesblue84's review against another edition

dark tense slow-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

3.5

The angel of Indian Lake by Stephen Graham Jones is my least favorite book of 2024 so far. The reason is because they were moments when it felt like a sure to read it. This book is a part of a trilogy. The first two books have a slow pace, but the payoff in the end is worth it. Unfortunately, this book starts off well and then drags on in the middle. Goal of reading this book was to see how it was going to end. Now that I read the ending I’m just disappointed. Jade Daniels is a character who grew on me, but it felt at times her narration rambled on and on and on. In the previous books, jades narration did not go off in tangents. I rated this book 3 stars out of five because I gave it a try, but unfortunately, the ending did not satisfy me because it felt anticlimactic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Gore

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

rstankievech's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

Ending was a bit over thr top but in keeping with the horror movie tropes used in the series. Satisfying ending to wrap everything up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Violence

Moderate: Child death

siobhanward's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

 

This was a solid end to the trilogy, and I really liked how things wrapped up. Once again, it was chock-full of horror references that went right over my head, but I still enjoyed finding out what happened to Jade and her friends and how Proofrock finally recovered (?). Jones has a gift for creating narratives that move quickly and and catch you off guard, and this book was a great example of this. My only real critique is that so much happened in the previous books that it was sometimes hard to remember events or who was who when they came up in this book. More than anything though, that makes me want to re-read the series from the beginning and read all three books back to back.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Gore, and Death

Minor: Racism and Death of parent

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Cursing, Gun violence, Confinement, Gore, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Torture, Classism, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, Rape, and Self harm

narzibenoucdel's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Child death, Cursing, Violence, Body horror, Drug use, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Gore, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts

gnarlyrae's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Child death, Death, Grief, Murder, Body horror, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Classism, and Self harm

Minor: Rape and Kidnapping

j_yarbrough's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Self harm, Child abuse, Cursing, Gore, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Violence, Animal death, Suicide attempt, and Kidnapping