Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias

52 reviews

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

its_kievan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

2.0

Well written in parts, but tonally incoherent. Iglesias clearly had something to say, either about race in America or about the cycle of violence, but any move towards capital-T Themes would be abruptly ruined by the awkward horror/crime plot. The narration was weirdly disaffected, including such highlights as a man musing about God’s existence for a hundred pages and then utterly failing to react to unambiguous proof of the supernatural. The plot just existed to shuffle the characters from one location to the next, which I would be totally fine with if the locations didn’t feel like they were also there to move the characters along. There were some genuinely disturbing moments and thought-provoking insights in the mix, and it was a pretty quick read overall, but for such an intense concept and title I was hoping for more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Gore, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Gun violence, and Racism

Moderate: Drug use and Drug abuse

Minor: Transphobia

amandadelbrocco's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

3.5

 Maybe not my genre but I really did not enjoy this. 

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Gore, Torture, Racial slurs, Murder, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Addiction, and Classism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

sofiacis_7's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Drug use, Gun violence, Murder, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Child death, Racial slurs, and Racism

kmaron's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Gore, Murder, Body horror, Addiction, Death, and Drug use

questionablereads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.25

Dark and captivating story that follows Mario, a man who has dealt with unbelievable tragedy and battles that sadness with bad decision making, while also being hyper aware of that fact. I felt for Mario, hell, I cried for Mario. This book made me feel everything and I loved the Spanglish and Puerto Rican culture woven within the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Cancer, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Child death, Drug abuse, and Blood

cberbette's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Child death, Drug use, Death, Body horror, Blood, Torture, Drug abuse, Racism, and Racial slurs

Minor: Suicide attempt and Transphobia

melm1216's review against another edition

dark 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Torture, Racism, Drug use, Violence, Gun violence, Death, Cancer, Blood, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Drug abuse, and Child death

caidyn's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.75

This is a hard one to rate. On some level, I enjoyed it. Yet, I also didn't at the same time. It's a difficult book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Grief, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Cancer and Drug use