Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

12 reviews

hellsjerome's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Finally get to feel superior for having read the book. A great vampire read that has aged fairly well considering it was released in the 50s, and an ending that really sticks with you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Sexism, and Gun violence

Moderate: Sexual violence and Child death

authorannafaundez's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

Weird book. Interesting ending.

Sometimes the book was sexual in a creepy, very uncomfortable way. The MC thinks about/considers sexual assault way too many times. The book treats sex as if it's entirely necessary for human male survival and that an adult has difficulty controlling himself, which . . . 1954 writing, I guess. It's not a good look. Didn't age well.

The science aspect is super far-fetched, which is sometimes OK. Suspension of belief is necessary for sci-fi and fantasy. But how fast Neville learns the science terminology is unbelievable with how specific the book gets. And that extreme specificity is where the problem is. Knowing words and general info is one thing, but true comprehension, study and experimentation is another. Either more mistakes needed to be made or more uncertainty about his theories would help that, I think. A simple time skip with a basic overview of what happened would have also been beneficial.

And then, when there finally was a time skip, it glossed over every single advancement/mistake/learning opportunity and ran straight for the plot, abandoning character growth.

Side note: I hope the movie I Am Legend (2007) said it was "inspired by" and not "based on" the 1954 novel. Because this book and that movie are different at their cores and by plotline.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Murder

Minor: Gun violence, Rape, Animal death, and Child death

refrejarator's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

2.0

The science still holds up at some points which is pretty cool. Interesting take on vampires, but uncomfortably dated (views of the 50s in regards to women and POCs).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Blood

Moderate: Grief, Violence, Cannibalism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Sexual assault, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Vomit, Animal death, Gun violence, and Medical content

POCs referred to as 'Negroes' and not named, only occurs in one chapter. Followers of Islam are referred to as Mohammedans. Jews and Judaism are also mentioned, but no derogatory comments made. Main character is tempted to SA/rape women, including comatose/sleeping/undead women. This is mentioned several times.

norwegianforestreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Confinement, Grief, Suicide, Terminal illness, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Car accident, Chronic illness, Gore, Abandonment, Body horror, Child death, Gun violence, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, War, Colonisation, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

bearystarry's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

I didn't realize this was half I Am Legend and half short stories when I bought it. I Am Legend was way too bleak for me. Some of the short stories had really interesting premises but weak execution, or I would have liked to be expanded. My favourite part of the whole book was The Funeral;

just a fun little monster story!

I thought it was cute, tbh.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Genocide, Animal death, Grief, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Ableism, Blood, Terminal illness, Sexism, Racism, Addiction, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Death, Physical abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Violence, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Sexual content, Torture, and Car accident

Minor: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Suicide attempt, and Fatphobia

demetrius_bennett's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Death, Addiction, Violence, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Gun violence

Minor: Child death and Sexual harassment

sassmistress's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Very much not my usual speed, but I see why it's genre-defining. It must be a *really* early take on zombie apocalypse literature. It's a solid mix of psychological horror and zombie thriller, with a dash of that classic sci-fi introspection. Extremely gripping, at points, like The Walking Dead (sorry to relate it to something newer!) Choc-full of content concerns, though, so I can't rate it any higher. But I really enjoyed the read and want one for my classics shelf. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Grief, Violence, Gun violence, and Misogyny

Moderate: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Cursing, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Animal death, and Confinement

Minor: Death of parent, Child death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, and Self harm

- Very graphic depiction of alcoholism and heavy alcohol use, from the mind of the user. We're constantly watching strong drinks spill, smell, burn going down, numb emotion, etc.
- POV is regularly on the verge of a mental breakdown.
- Memories of his wife wasting away and dying, then having to dispose of her body. The grief is graphic. His child dies, too, though this is less prominent.
- Dog content:

He feeds the feral/traumatized dog and slowly befriends it. During this process, the dog is infected. He brings the dog inside, hoping to cure it before it passes, and it panics extensively. He calms it down, the dog licks him, he cries, and then says the dog died a week later.

- He is an atheist, but prays twice out of desperation. Religion is otherwise depicted as frenzied madness.
- Lots of lustful gaze and objectification. This is viewed as the inevitable result of a man's "deprivation" / isolation. One passionate embrace/kiss.
- Blood, obviously, and some violent "vampire" deaths, but most of it is kept at a moderate emotional distance. Most deaths are the MC bleeding out the sleeping "vampires", not described too graphically, but a few are more violent.
- Brief mention of rape, and a few suicidal thoughts.

scytheria's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism and Gun violence

Minor: Suicide, Animal death, and Rape

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Medical content, Child death, Cursing, Grief, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

ironically's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, War, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Gore, Death, Animal death, and Violence