Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias

6 reviews

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

ruthypoo2's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.0

This story is not for the faint-hearted because there are some very brutal incidents involving injury, murder, death, abuse, drug use. Set primarily in Texas in a world of violent crime and desperation, the main character, Mario, is still reeling from the death of his young daughter and the breakdown of his marriage. The author nimbly weaves a number of serious social issues throughout his book, with one in particular being the way health care costs in the United States can bankrupt people and take them to a very low point in their life.

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.

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Content Warnings

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

victoriaharris001'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide attempt, Torture, Vomit, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Addiction, Gaslighting, Gore, Trafficking, Transphobia, Violence, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Body horror, and Suicidal thoughts

jennifer_bush_73's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Cancer, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Death of parent, Violence, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Body horror, Bullying, and Suicidal thoughts

ashleymg99's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

2.5

This book just wasn’t for me. I was really interested in the mysticism, but it was just a bit too dark, gritty, and gory for my personal taste. Some scenes are very graphic (violent) and hard to read, and I don’t consider myself to have a weak stomach. Overall, the book was pretty depressing. I think the writing was great, and the story had a unique premise, but the tone was a bit too rough for me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Body horror, Murder, Racism, Grief, Torture, Death, Gore, Child death, Child abuse, Xenophobia, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Cancer, Addiction, Cursing, Drug use, and Blood

grimdark_dad's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, Racial slurs, and Racism