Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman

9 reviews

alexiasp's review

dark tense

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Murder, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Body horror, and Gore

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, and Vomit

sheriffrockyraccoon's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I feel like I always have to knock stars off books for silly reasons, even if I liked them. Here, it is not the case. I was craving a good, medieval story and Google gave this book as the first result. I cannot believe Google just randomly offered me the best book I’ve read in YEARS.

I loved the references to Gnostic scripture and how it brought religion to life in such a way that now angels and God cannot be boring. That said, I believe this book can be enjoyed without being overly Christian- it’s a classic story about knights slaying monsters and supernatural forces that help him and his team along.

As a fan of Joan of Arc, I loved Delphine. Her character was compelling and fun, as were Matthieu and Thomas. This book is so funny with scenes packed with so much action I had to stop myself from reading too fast and savor it.

If you are a fan of knights, horror, and magic, I cannot recommend this book enough. It’s absolutely my favorite now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Religious bigotry, Violence, Gore, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Cursing, Blood, Body horror, Pandemic/Epidemic, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, Addiction, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Antisemitism, Excrement, Vomit, Sexual assault, Islamophobia, Torture, Pedophilia, and Grief

flintk's review

challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Sexual content, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Child death, War, Religious bigotry, Rape, Misogyny, Vomit, Violence, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Blood, Antisemitism, Alcohol, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical trauma, Islamophobia, Abandonment, Genocide, Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, Child abuse, Grief, Animal death, Alcoholism, Body horror, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Homophobia, Death, Cursing, Classism, Cannibalism, Hate crime, Confinement, and Chronic illness

carodunn's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Religious bigotry, Cursing, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Excrement

emilyharmonica's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Vomit, Sexual assault, Torture, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Cursing, Excrement, Grief, Homophobia, Violence, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, War, Pedophilia, Gore, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

fractalyin's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Alcohol, Blood, Animal cruelty, Torture, Misogyny, Cursing, Murder, Excrement, Gore, Antisemitism, Vomit, Homophobia, Death, Violence, Cannibalism, and Body horror

silverleaf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Antisemitism, War, Gore, Violence, and Body horror

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Classism, Religious bigotry, Animal cruelty, Xenophobia, and Cursing

rachelunabridged's review

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Fantastic read + definitely a new favorite for me! The plot and characters were amazing, and I loved every second I spent with this book. Can now say that I am a huge fan of medieval horror and obsessed with Christopher Buehlman's writing. He does an amazing job developing characters that the reader WILL get attached to, which is a huge reason why this story was such a hit for me. I found myself really caring about each of the main characters and invested in their personal journeys alongside the main plot. Just fantastic writing overall. Highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys horror, but especially if you're interesting in historical horror!

Also, I feel like I have to mention the fact that this book is heavily influenced by Christianity, but you don't have to be religious to enjoy it. I'm an agnostic atheist and didn't have any issues with the content. It's clearly just supposed to be a work of fiction that has themes that are relevant to the time period in which it takes place. The author doesn't try to push any beliefs off on the reader so, if this is a concern, you can relax and treat this as any other work of horror fiction.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Death, Gore, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, and War

seanml's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad slow-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

3.75

Not always perfectly coherent, Between Two Fires is still one of the most original and unique horror novels there is. Taking place in medieval France during the sweep of the Bubonic Plague, the book mirrors a classic chivalrous Christian knight’s tale: a journey fraught with varying perils and moral trials to test the knight’s renown. But in this rendition our knight is excommunicate from the church and our perils are Lucifer’s second crusade, continuing on from Paradise Lost’s original war. Recommended if you want an original horror novel, with the caveat that the components of medieval Christianity (Sexism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, homophobia) are still part of the setting. 7.5/10.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Violence, Death, Gore, Animal death, Medical content, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Antisemitism, Self harm, Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Infidelity, Outing, Blood, Body horror, Grief, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Rape, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Torture, and Vomit

Minor: Cannibalism, Incest, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Genocide