Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Čierny leopard, červený vlk by Marlon James

114 reviews

econsidine's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-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

4.25

This one took a long time to read, because it's 620 pages long and a lot of it is in a meandering pace and a lot of information is thrown at you that you may need to remember or recall. That said, I enjoyed it a lot. It's a twisty story spanning an unclear amount of years about a Tracker with a near-supernaturally-strong nose, his friendship/relationship with a leopard-man, a hired job to find a random boy who doesn't seem to exist, and also the Tracker's sort-of adopted children. If you like fantasy with inventive worlds and systems, if you like fantasy with a lot of characters and a complex plot that takes ages to progress, if you like books along the lines of GoT and The Witcher and The Broken Earth and are ready to jump into something new—this is a good pick for you.

NOTE THAT THERE IS A LOT OF HEAVY/DARK MATERIAL AND IMAGERY. I've tagged everything I can possibly think of below but have likely missed something. If you do not want to read something that involves any of the usual suspects of what people consider "dark" or "gory" or "messed up," then this is not for you. It's not a horror book, but it is often disturbing. And even for me—someone who loves fictional horror and grotesque shit and frequently reads books about cannibalism for fun—this one is a lot to get through and had me physically flinching at some moments while reading. It didn't read like it was just for shock value, as weird as that may sound, but the tone of the narrator through the whole book is very matter-of-fact, so many disturbing events are described in full detail but without much direct inflection/editorializing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

mgraceoliver's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail

elizaahhh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

dananator13's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

bookforthought's review against another edition

I really wanted to like this, as I loved the idea of an African-inspired fantasy but the constant stream of explicit violence, child abuse and sexual content on basically every page was just too much for me.
I liked the African mythology and the writing style was original and intriguing (it resembles the oral storytelling tradition), but the content was making it impossible for me to enjoy this. I might give this another try in the future, but for now it’s a no. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder

bee26's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, and Sexism

Be aware of some scene of bestiality

kingcrookback's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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? Yes

I'm fairly sure that people called this "the African Game of Thrones" for marketing purposes because they both occupy the epic fantasy space, but I think the comparison is apt for other reasons. Similar to how A Song of Ice and Fire is something of an examination and deconstruction of feudal fantasy and grapples with how myth, history, and subjective experiences tangle and interweave, Black Leopard, Red Wolf also tackles the interplay among truth, stories, and subjectivity. Admittedly, I initially found it difficult to detect and hook onto this theme, partially due to the book's graphicness as well as the fact that that's...simply how it goes with a lot of fantasy worlds. It took me about 100 pages to find my footing, and reading James' interview with the Boston Review was also very helpful (https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/representation-doesnt-just-mean-heroes-we-need-the-villains-as-well).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Slavery, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Drug use

eli3823's review against another edition

DNF. Stopped 1/3 in. Dense, highly stylized prose. Difficult to read. It's not always clear who is talking. Too much rape, graphic violence and reference to ass smells. Main character motivations aren't apparent. The part of the timeline, background that could shed light on who the protagonist is comes way too late. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

nate_b's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

A truly brilliant story! The world-building of an alternative African magical reality is absolutely incredible. I will need to give this another listen, though it is so intense and violent I don't know when I'll be up for it. It's almost like the most graphic type of scenes from Law & Order: SVU all put together with terrifying descriptions of witchcraft blended with mysterious powers, destiny, loss, and a pervasive, bitter sense of betrayal.

It was hard to follow at times but well worth the effort and time. It's a long book but so exquisitely told!

The author does not shy away from extremely graphic depictions of the acts of his characters, including sexual assault, murder, and war crimes against children. I actually had to set it aside after the first time I tried listening to it until a time when I was more able to handle the violent opening scene and get into the fascinating characters beyond. Maybe next year I'll be up to listen to the sequel! I hope they get the same narrator. He did a phenomenal job! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

oisinofthehill's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, Cannibalism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, and Torture