Reviews tagging 'Death'

Don't Fear The Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones

54 reviews

siobhanward's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.0

 I love Stephen Graham Jones but I was a little let down by this book. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed it, but not nearly as much as his other works. This definitely felt a lot like the middle book of a trilogy - extending some events from the first book and setting things up for a third.

Like My Heart is a Chainsaw this book had a lot of references to horror films, specifically slasher movies. While the references do get explained, I feel like I would have gotten more out of the book had I seen any of the movies that were mentioned. I'm excited to see what happens in the third book and I hope it's a little stronger than this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

maryellen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

juliatindell's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

annact's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

"Jennifer goddamn Daniels," Hardy finally says. 

"It's Jade, sir," Jade says back

Jade Daniels, the woman that you are...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, Self harm, Sexual assault, Medical content, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

sdsmith80's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

5.0

<strong>Exhilarating!</strong>

I've been waiting for this book for what feels like forever. Its arrival wound up perfectly timed with a minor surgery, so I was able to spend part of my recovery in Proofrock, Idaho, with Jade Daniels. 

This book starts off with a bang and just keeps rolling on an exhilarating ride through town. While there is some confusion as to who the killer(s) is/are, that isn't 100% cleared up in my mind at the end, it is such an exciting read. I literally couldn't stop myself from talking to my husband about this or that segment, even though I'm not supposed to be talking, haha. 

I can't wait to see what comes next for Jade and the denizens of Proofrock. Especially after this killer ending. I can only wish that time goes faster so the final book in this trilogy will be in my hands a little sooner. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

poetsofsweetpea's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.75

Jade, Jade, Jade!  Here she is again not seeing who she really is.  I love a full cast narration and enjoyed listening to this book.  There was a good follow up of the living characters from My Heart is A Chainsaw but also a lot of new story.  This was not a rehashing but a continuation.  I always listen to the very end of a book and was glad I did.  The authors acknowledgements provided even more depth and if possible endeared me even more to these characters. My only complaint is that there may have been too many POV's and that mannerisms or voice bled through them all, perhaps to the detriment of the story.  I did love it though and Stephen Graham Jones is quickly becoming my favorite horror author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Trafficking, Colonisation, and Classism

PTSD, privacy invasion, mention of animal torture, s slur, MO lynching, MO Dakota 38, MO residential schools, drowning, car accident.

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Gun violence, Medical content, and Stalking

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Drug use, Genocide, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

enchantressreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

It’s always hard to review a sequel to a book without spoilers, but in this case, Don’t Fear the Reaper is less of a sequel and more of a second novel in the same universe. It works as a standalone, but I do highly recommend reading My Heart is a Chainsaw before reading Reaper. The plot doesn’t follow much into Reaper, but you do learn a lot about the characters in Chainsaw.

I gave Chainsaw a 4.5 star rating, and I’m going with a 4 star rating for Reaper. One of the biggest reasons for this is because I felt we didn’t get to see Jade as she truly was. She was (pardon the pun) quite jaded as she returned to town after her time in prison. However, Stephen Graham Jones is one of my favorite writers, and I loved everything about the story. I just wish we had more Jade. 

I’m excited to read the third book and conclude the series. I think it’s possible my issues with the second will solve themselves in the third, as it tends to happen with middle books in a trilogy. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books/Saga Press for the advanced review copy! Don’t Fear the Reaper releases on February 7th. 

TW for blood, gore, injury, death, murder, grief, trauma, racism, animal cruelty, animal death, and an adult/minor relationship

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racism, and Self harm

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, and Grief

kimberlykesq's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

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