Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias

55 reviews

jasisreading's review

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

1.5

this book had potential but somewhere between the third act

where mario k*lls brian

and the climax where

mario confronts juanca and ends up dead

, the book went in a direction I don't believe was bulit up thematically.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Gun violence, Child death, and Drug abuse

babybokchoy333's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

3.0

This book is an adequate weekend/vacation read. The characters have potential to be interesting with their own internal biases and flaws, but there is barely any development. The Spanglish dialogue was refreshing and one of the few things that helped with character depth. However the rest of the writing style is so flat and tries too hard to be poetic and while failing. There was actually a line that read "the garage floor was grey like a garage floor" :/

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Racism, Grief, Drug abuse, Death, and Drug use

shiftycow1313's review against another edition

I knew based on the description that this book was going to be dark, but it is DARK DARK DARK. I'll try to pick it up again someday when my head is in a better space.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Racism, Classism, Cursing, Blood, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Murder, Torture, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Medical trauma, and Physical abuse

murder_unicorn's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Torture, Blood, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Body horror, Gore, Violence, and Gun violence

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Drug abuse, Cancer, Classism, Child death, Grief, Medical content, Cannibalism, Terminal illness, and Medical trauma

Minor: Transphobia, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, and Vomit

amandaroa's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-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? Yes

3.0

I tried to read this book a year ago but it was just too ugly and I stopped. I decided to try again, being in the right mood for it, started over from the beginning.  
I can acknowledge the writing was great. The book put me into the shoes of a character whose world I have never experienced and did so im a way that was thought-provoking. But did I like the book? Not really. Might someone else? Sure. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder, Blood, Death, Gore, Cancer, Drug abuse, Gun violence, and Racism

cmcrockford's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Mix of purple and strong prose here, but I also really hate Dead Kids and Lost Families as motivators for characters. I don't care! I dunno the Dead Kid! Stick to the plot! Plus this felt preachy sometimes. At least the combination of barrio noir and horror is cool.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Death, Violence, Transphobia, Murder, Racism, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Cursing, Alcohol, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Child death, Physical abuse, Medical content, Grief, Cancer, Alcoholism, and Gore

thewellbitch's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

 3 stars - This was a wild ride. I purchased it because I had seen it recommended in horror book lists, but it started out as some narco/crime novel so I was disappointed. But then we get bits of horror and I was like whoa. Some parts were very good (and disturbing), but having lived in cities where cartel violence is/was rampant I really do not enjoy it as the central part of books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Torture, Racial slurs, Violence, Gun violence, Gore, Cursing, Blood, and Racism

Moderate: Cancer, Child death, and Drug abuse

nashaytreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.5

A beautifully written, tragic quest for a new start and escape. Mario’s journey just progressively escalated, and just like the characters, there were moments when I wanted to stop reading because I could see things getting worse, but was compelled to keep going anyway. 

Even though I saw the “twist” pretty far in advance, it was still heart wrenching all the same. I don’t think it was necessarily supposed to be a surprise, just…impactful.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Drug abuse, Child death, Drug use, and Body horror

Minor: Death of parent

englethebert's review against another edition

dark tense

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

3.5

Plods along in the middle but starts and ends strong. Characters are despicable interesting in their actions and interactions with one another, but struggle with internal growth

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Child death, Medical trauma, Violence, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Gore, Death, Racism, Cursing, and Body horror

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Deportation, Classism, and Drug abuse

Minor: Infidelity and Addiction

ohsnapsabrina93_'s review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

If you don't like gory details, don't read the book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Drug abuse, Grief, Addiction, Murder, Violence, Gore, Death of parent, and Drug use