Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias

55 reviews

diamondgoose's review against another edition

dark emotional sad

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Murder, Gun violence, Torture, Cancer, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Addiction, Drug abuse, Blood, Domestic abuse, Death, Child death, Xenophobia, Racism, and Racial slurs

oro91's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

4.5

This book went in a direction I did not expect at all. Definitely violent but the story kept me hooked. I do with the translations we’re in foot notes as opposed to a separate book. Would be easier to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Racism, Violence, Cannibalism, Blood, Cancer, Body horror, Medical trauma, Murder, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Vomit

lolaslalaland's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad slow-paced

3.0

The story of a man who loses her daughter to cancer and then his wife. Surrounded by dept and looking for anything to fill in the void, Mario takes up part-time murder until it gets him involved with the Mexican cartel and he starts to learn about different things that go bump in the night. 

Pros: 
✅ compelling dark tone 
✅ discussions on racism, bigotry, poverty and the American Dream 
✅ very graphic (body horror) 
✅ believable tragic characters 

Cons: 
❌ a lot of elements or character interactions ended up having no impact on the story or coming up at a later point 
❌ very repetitive at times (although it is understandable as Mario has been through a very traumatic loss, I just got a little bored) 
❌ I wasn't sure if this book had paranormal/fantastical elements to it or not, I was often very confused in anything side-plot that came up, but it didn't matter anyways because I wouldn't ever really come back to be important 
❌ lacking in side character depth 

This was a very powerful read and I definitely thought it was incredibly depressing and tragic but with such an important message behind it. It could have been great with a little more time spent on side plot and whatever those extra elements that never really went anywhere: the guy at the bar talking about his brother, the strange old deceased neighbor apparition, the creatures underground (which only really get some kind of guessed explanation by the end), and the bruja lady from the Mexican cartel. I feel like if more time was spent developing those thing and less time on Mario remembering his wife's smooth skin this book could have been much better. Still a good book though!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Body horror, Drug abuse, and Addiction

Moderate: Drug use

tysbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Well, this was not one of my better picks for BOTM. So this follows Mario who has come into a lot a debt because of medical bills due to his young daughter's diagnosis with leukemia. He decides to go on a job with a friend to rob a drug cartel with the hopes of bringing home a lump sum of cash, but everything doesn't go as planned. 

In the beginning I really felt for our main character Mario as he describes the difficulty of taking care of a sick child, the effects it had on his family financially and how it slowly deteriorated his marriage. It made me feel sympathetic to his choice of a life of crime however, stealing from a drug cartel is a huge leap and a little unbelievable when we were never told he had ever done anything to this level of crime before. This book was also marketed as 'horror' when I didn't find anything in this be considered horror. There were a few supernatural elements in there that I was hoping could have been explored more, but that was about it. The author did do a good job with incorporating the conversation around racism and the stereotypes the Hispanic community faces and weaves it through the story nicely. I do think the story was very predictable and I wasn't surprised by anything that happened at the end, but maybe that comes from watching tons of crime thriller movies. I think if you want a moderately paced suspenseful thriller this will work for you, but if you were expecting more horror like I was then this might not work.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Racism, Child death, and Gun violence

goldenas's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Child death, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Violence, Death, Drug use, Gore, Body horror, Drug abuse, and Gun violence

Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Cannibalism, and Suicidal thoughts

regen20's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Xenophobia, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Drug use, Cursing, Physical abuse, Murder, Drug abuse, and Death

Moderate: Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Toxic friendship, Terminal illness, and Medical content

Minor: Racial slurs and Pregnancy

sylvestra's review against another edition

dark 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: Blood, Gun violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Trafficking, and Racism

Moderate: Deportation, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Cancer, Drug use, and Pregnancy

Minor: Transphobia, Outing, and Misogyny

meliroo's review against another edition

dark

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, Drug use, Vomit, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Transphobia, Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Torture, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Grief, and Domestic abuse

wai's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, Physical abuse, Cancer, Classism, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Murder, Gore, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Blood, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Torture, Addiction, Child abuse, and Child death

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Transphobia

scwilliams's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.5

The beginning grabbed my attention and held my interest, but the middle is where the story wavers for me, and the climatic fight didn't feel as emotionally jarring as other scenes. It reminded me a lot of "Razerblade Tears" by S. A. Crosby. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Hate crime, Child death, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Death, Cancer, Child abuse, Addiction, Terminal illness, Grief, Gun violence, Racism, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, and Body horror

Minor: Transphobia