Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Gone to See the River Man by Kristopher Triana

110 reviews

jesssicawho's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

1.0

I’ve now proven that splatterpunk, extreme horror is not for me. I don’t understand how or why people like reading about the most depraved, disgusting, truly upsetting things you can imagine. I wish I had checked the trigger warnings before buying this because there are certain no-go areas for me (and this book crossed several lines). 

In addition, I can’t help but think there’s some (maybe) subconscious racism on display with the way the author writes the only black character. I understand regional dialects and slang but I’ve never heard an actual person speak in such a cartoonish way. 

I thought maybe the book would have a redeeming end, but it did not. There’s no hope, or even petty redemption (like if the “wronged” character rose up and took revenge). It feels like shock and horror for the sake of shock and horror. 

I’ll give it a star for the cool descriptions of the river and river man. By this point I was skimming to get to the end but there were some neat cosmic horror adjacent scenes but overall not worth the rest of the journey. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Death, Sexual assault, Child death, Rape, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Child abuse, Gore, Eating disorder, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Murder, Pedophilia, Self harm, and Sexual violence

moondoe's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Incest, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Blood, Gore, and Murder

nyquilcryptid's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The novel-length version of that joke in Natural Born Killers. "Look bitch, you knew I was a snake." 
Absolutely mind the trigger warnings on this one, very explicit content ahead. But the writing is wonderful, and the story is so, so good. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Incest, Rape, Racial slurs, Violence, Gore, Blood, Death, Murder, and Sexual assault

lepurush's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I made the mistake of reading this book all in one sitting and it actually emotionally destroyed me for a while, I had to take a break from both reading and dark media. Though the topics are handled sensitively and discussed without glorification, it was still extremely sickening. 

The writing was amazing and the psychology of the characters was interesting too. I wish I’d read it across a few days but it was really gripping. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gaslighting, Incest, Murder, Sexual assault, Gore, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Child death, and Blood

unfranchisablereadr's review against another edition

4.0

Enjoyed the pacing of this. The MC’s relationship with the serial killer is the least concerning element. Intense story from start to finish. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Incest, Murder, Rape, Blood, Ableism, and Body horror

katelynalice's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexism, Murder, Racism, Torture, Blood, Body horror, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Incest, Ableism, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Death, Rape, and Violence

d_cave's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Jesus Christ. This book is up there with Amygdalatropolis by B.R. Yeager as some of the most fucked up books I’ve read, funny enough because both have some similar topics covered within. Where this differs however is it’s much more steeped in genre, especially Splatterpunk, but I was glad to see my beloved Cosmic Horror make an appearance. 

The writing could use some work, dialogue felt a bit unnatural too often, simile didn’t always work for me, and the side characters ranged from okay to hilariously ridiculous caricature. I didn’t hate my time with it, and winced pretty often, but I assume Triana’s writing skills will improve. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Eating disorder, Murder, Sexual violence, Incest, Gore, Rape, and Violence

Minor: Ableism

itsjustgrumpy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Even though it is grim and harrowing, I often found myself not able to put this book down. The well written characters had little to no redeeming qualities, all varying shades of putrid muck. Finished it in just under two days and that ending was absolutely perfect.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Child abuse

Minor: Vomit

thereadingdude's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Self harm, Rape, Incest, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Violence

Moderate: Vomit

l3xi3's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Eating disorder, Incest, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Blood, Gore, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Torture, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Violence, and Toxic relationship