Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias

61 reviews

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

lisettemarie's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Gun violence, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Grief, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Cancer, Child death, Cannibalism, Classism, Cursing, Death, and Murder

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

leahrosereads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-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

5.0

The Devil Takes You Home was gritty, heart wrenching, disturbing, and so fucking interesting.  It's going to sound weird, but I savored this story, sat with it for days longer than it normally takes me, and still, even as it ended, I wanted more.

Not because this story wasn't told to fruition, because it was, and spectacularly so, but because I'm absolutely unhingedly intrigued by the bits of supernatural we saw.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Racism, Grief, Drug use, Child death, and Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Body horror, Racial slurs, Child abuse, and Confinement

Minor: Transphobia

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

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