Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman

23 reviews

gringolet's review

dark hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Well researched, succeeded in capturing the feel of the period and really excellent for anyone who likes religious horror, medieval settings, and the plague, which is me. It is weirdly Catholic on a fundamental, foundational level, however I think writing anything set in medieval Europe kind of requires that headspace and it was Catholic in a "cool with gay people" way, so it didn't bother me too much. The characters were grounded in the period and yet still dynamic, interesting and likeable, and the horror elements were well done with some fun messed up creatures and gore.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Alcohol, Pandemic/Epidemic, War, Gore, Body horror, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Grief, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Rape, War, Vomit, Outing, Ableism, Animal death, Xenophobia, Sexism, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Child death

jake_windish's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It’s the book I’ve searched for. 

My mood for horror took me to my local shop’s section where I saw a bright red spine that read, “Between Two Ferns.” I was dumbfounded and picked it up, saw the actual title and laughed. Then I saw the subheading: 
“An epic tale of medieval horror”

I had to have this book. And when I finally read it, I consumed it. 

A plague-ridden Europe filled is bad enough, as are the people trying to survive it, but when you bring in the forces of good and evil warring for Heaven, things become worse. How can people who have done terrible things absolve themselves when death comes? Are they damned for eternity? Is this world hell itself with its monstrosities and sickness?

This is my first read of Buehlman and it won’t be my last. His prose captivated me and painted the scene beautifully. Never lost in the mire of too much detail, the book’s pacing was always metered and intentional. Action flowed well and the horrors were inspired.

Disgusting yet beautiful. Full of despair and hope. Both funny and terrifying. 

I’m already trying to figure out when I’ll read another one of Buehlman’s books. I can’t wait for it, and I can’t wait to read Between Two Fires again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death of parent, and Gore

Minor: Rape and Torture

silea's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

An unusual novel. The Black Death permeates every element of the story but isn’t the focus. Supernatural abominations are just one of the many challenges the people face. The stakes are huge but also small and personal. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Body horror, Grief, Homophobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Gore, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Death, Cursing, Antisemitism, and Blood

Moderate: Islamophobia, Classism, Sexual assault, Torture, Death of parent, and Excrement

Minor: Miscarriage, Classism, Excrement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Cannibalism, and Child abuse

jrmathison3's review

adventurous dark emotional medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Genocide, Gore, Sexual violence, War, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, and Infidelity

theabee's review

adventurous challenging dark 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? No

5.0

War of the worlds meets 13th century black death, the Decameron meets The Hills Have Eyes. Love this read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, War, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, and Gore

Minor: Death of parent

kurumipanda's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Body horror, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual violence, Violence, Animal death, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Torture, Cannibalism, Classism, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Outing, War, Xenophobia, Rape, Pedophilia, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Infidelity, Self harm, Suicide, and Vomit

jjohnson265's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicide, Death, Child death, and Death of parent

fleen's review against another edition

dark emotional tense

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, War, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Misogyny, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual assault, Death of parent, Rape, and Sexual content

gremlingorl's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny sad 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

5.0

What. A. Book.
I feel like a need a second to sit here and stare off into the distance after finishing between two fires.

An incredibly written book with character dialogue that feels impressively natural and real, combat that is both interesting and makes sense, and a gorgeous, tense, excellent story. 

Characters feel so rich and alive, flawed and real. The world is incredibly interesting. Devils are horrifying and strange and so so creatively done. You can’t help but care deeply for all of it.

I don’t have the words to sing it’s praises but this is one of very few books I wish i could erase and read again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Homophobia, Death, Religious bigotry, and Vomit

Moderate: Rape, Sexual harassment, War, Animal death, Child death, Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Xenophobia

The book takes place during the black plague so expect a lot of death and decay described in graphic detail

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