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ruthypoo2's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Looking for a way to recover financial stability and win back his estranged wife, Mario embarks on a life of crime he sees as short term. An opportunity becomes available for Mario to join two friends for a high-paying job that promises to be the payday they all need to start over and leave behind their criminal pasts. Unfortunately, this last job takes them into the underbelly of a world where the strong survive eliminating rivals and punishing traitors, and in this world, spirituality harnesses not just God, but the Devil too.
Really well-written story and a good translation. The assorted people and various landscapes of their environments felt visceral and real. In a lot of books and movies, criminals and the poor are portrayed in a one-dimensional way, but in this book, the characters possess great intelligence and depth, and the reader may likely be exposed to a harsh reality that many people experience but many more are insulated from by virtue of their skin color, neighborhood, lineage, and sometimes just luck.
I listened to the audiobook, and the narration by Jean-Marc Berne was excellent.
Graphic: Confinement, Animal cruelty, Murder, Torture, Violence, Body horror, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Child abuse
Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Grief, Racism, Addiction, Blood, Cancer, Child death, and Racial slurs
Minor: Alcohol, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Medical content
_meeg's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Torture, Gore, and Abandonment
vtleon715's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Gore, Child death, Murder, Gun violence, Grief, Violence, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
_astronomay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, and Torture
ate_nina_reads's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Hate crime, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, and War
alek_n's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Gun violence, and Torture
shawnthulhu's review against another edition
Graphic: Child abuse, Religious bigotry, Medical content, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Gore, Grief, Emotional abuse, Classism, Death, Body horror, and Addiction
mcordell's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Child abuse and Torture
Moderate: Child death
nithya_natalya's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
One note: there is a good amount of Spanish mixed into the novel, although it is mostly written in English. I would recommend not trying to translate those sections if you don’t understand them. Writing parts of conversations in Spanish was an artistic choice. Imo, non Spanish speakers are not meant to know what’s being said. That’s part of the experience of it. Spanish speakers will catch everything and non-Spanish speaker will miss things, feel lost, or not fully understand. And to me, that is part of the point of the artistic choice that was made. If not understanding what’s going on makes you feel uncomfortable, sit with that!
Graphic: Gun violence, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Torture, Child abuse, Body horror, Child death, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Cannibalism
book_creature's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Cancer, Death, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Child death, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Violence, Drug use, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Grief, and Gun violence
Moderate: Transphobia and Child abuse
Minor: Animal cruelty