Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Lone Women by Victor LaValle

69 reviews

meganpbell's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious 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

4.0

“History is simple, but the past is complicated.” This well-researched supernatural Western expands the picture of the Wild West we’re used to—redrawing the boundaries to include the Black, queer, and mixed-race settlers that lived and labored on the frontier while exploring assimilation and inclusion, complicity and community-building. To be honest, I appreciated this book more than enjoyed it. Recommended for fans of Rivers Solomon’s Sorrowland.

Highly recommend reading this excellent article on the historical background of Lone Women:
https://www.tor.com/2023/04/03/book-reviews-lone-women-by-victor-lavalle/

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Blood

Moderate: Racism, Gun violence, Murder, Gore, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Confinement, Transphobia, Death, and Colonisation

Minor: Pregnancy, Child death, and Sexual content

mandi_lea's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Confinement, Murder, Racism, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, and Blood

halfass_reviewer's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

5.0

OMG! This was a book that just when you thought you knew what was going on, hit you with another twist. I would've liked the twists to have been sprinkled throughout the book instead of in the last 10-15%. I do think the novel did a great job of answering all those questions but, it was still a lot for just a few short chapters to hold. The writing was great, I loved that eventually the narrator gave us different viewpoints of women, and that the story was engaging. It was one of those that drew you in and wouldn't let you go. Regardless I adored this book and am so glad that I gave it a chance. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, and Death of parent

kvanderheyden's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Good but could have been better. The author had too many ideas going on toward the end that were not explained. The ending seemed rushed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Murder, Grief, Alcohol, Blood, Sexism, and Gore

blackcatkai's review against another edition

dark hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Death, Violence, Blood, Body horror, and Racism

Moderate: Sexism

librarianjennifer's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

I was so surprised by this book! Loved this fantastical, female-centric, Western horror story. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gore, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Lesbophobia, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Child death, Murder, Xenophobia, and Homophobia

sarah984's review against another edition

dark informative reflective 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

5.0

I really liked this book - the history is interesting and the characters are well drawn. I didn't think the horror was that scary and a few parts were a bit silly to me but overall this is a great story about family, revenge, and the meaning of forgiveness.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Deadnaming

Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Grief, Racism, Transphobia, Violence, Gun violence, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Ableism, Abandonment, Child death, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Medical content, Pregnancy, Slavery, and Misogyny

carissa230's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious

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

3.25

There is something sinister about the trunk that Adelaide brings everywhere she goes. It's far heavier that the size would lead you to believe. She has recently lost both her parents so she loads up the trunk and all her necessities and takes them to Montana. Montana is a hostile wilderness, but Adelaide feels that she will be able to feel free and safe there. 

When Adelaide gets to Montana she meets a few other women that have decided to change the course of their lives and make a start in Montana as well. One woman has three blind boys, one woman has  a young son, two women are great friends that live together. Every single one of them has a secret they're trying to avoid facing.

The twist with the trunk was unexpected, but hard to believe. How, why, what? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, and Blood

readingbrb's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Blood

Moderate: Racism and Transphobia

Minor: Deadnaming

anna_hepworth's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

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

5.0

I knew going in that this was horror and historical. And yet the opening was still startling, and the slowly developing creeping dread was amazingly well done. I greatly appreciate that the majority of shitty things that could happen were alluded to, and not put on the page. 

This was hard going at times, not least because there are so many things that can go wrong for people living alone with limited resources in winters with much snow, and the 'how will the character(s) get through this' was exhausting. 

The story is incredibly complex, nuanced and layered, and I appreciated it all the more as each layer was revealed. The characters are amazing, the worldbuilding jumps off the page, the writing is sparse and yet lush, and the pacing is exquisite. Highly recommended. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Murder, and Racial slurs

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Alcohol, Death of parent, Misogyny, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Deadnaming, and Injury/Injury detail