Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno

12 reviews

caroisreading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-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

3.5

More than a horror story, this is a love story laced with tragedy and grief. There are supernatural elements that make this a creepy, wild read, and an unreliable narrator who makes us second-guess what is actually happening. 

This book is written from the perspective of Thiago writing to his wife, the love of his life who lost her life to a random accident, only a few months prior. He is still processing his grief and anger, and we sort through his memories together. Then the creepy elements start to appear, like the Alexa-inspired speaker that seems to be haunted. Only Thiago, his wife, and his mother-in-law seem to witness these strange events. As he makes the move away from Chicago and this mysterious darkness, he realizes he's being followed. Layered within this is his in-between identity, being Mexican and American, feeling like he carries the ancestral curse of any family wrongdoings -- racism and the polarizing discourse on immigrants as background themes. 

For me, this story was bleak (rightfully so?) and unraveled in a messy way, continuously confirming there's only darkness in the end, "life is life." I think any comedic undertone got lost on me.

I was so excited to read a Chicagoan author's work, and really appreciated Gus Moreno's writing style -- sparse enough to read with ease, but decorative and meandering where it needed to be. 

You'll like this if you're into horror and supernatural concepts, bicultural perspectives, stories that reflect grief and loss of loved ones.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Gore, Self harm, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Medical content, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

hannaheinhorn's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

this book was a fun read, but i almost felt like it should’ve been longer in order to resolve itself properly. if that were the case, the book would definitely be like 4 stars for me. ambiguous endings are great when they’re not cop-outs, and i felt like this one left enough to the imagination to make the message of the book so unclear. based on how the story ended, it kind of seems like thiago was just suffering to suffer, which is a conclusion that i don’t think the author meant for the audience to come to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Gore, Car accident, Body horror, Death, Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicide, and Grief

Moderate: Xenophobia, Death of parent, Racism, Classism, and Gun violence

blueowl2ivy's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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: Animal death, Body horror, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Racism, Death of parent, and Xenophobia

sylvestra's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Gun violence, and Suicide

Minor: Death of parent, Alcohol, and Car accident

ohmyhazz's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, and Body horror

Moderate: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, and Gun violence

riella_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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

 This was such a weird and strange book. It started off a little slower than I would have liked but then it was like you were thrown into everything all at once. I will say it was a little confusing at times, especially the ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Animal death, Dysphoria, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Alcohol, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Body horror, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

opossumble's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Cursing, Medical content, and Gun violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Deportation, Drug use, and Terminal illness

michaeljriser's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This is a pretty masterful book overall. It really swings between surreal to more literal horror at different times, and the latter were almost a bit at odds with the character-driven study of grief that the book ultimately is. I wasn't entirely sure how to feel about the ending, either, though I can't say this is bad or good. If nothing else, it made me want to immediately go back to read it again (though I'll give it a couple years before I do) to see whether or not I'd moved too quickly or missed a more obfuscated message. Overall a beautiful story, uniquely told, with all the hallmarks of someone that's experienced grief firsthand.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death of parent, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Alcohol and Gun violence

There are some troubling elements of this book that will trigger more sensitive readers, though I didn't feel any of them felt abusive of the reader or overly torturous. Supernatural elements make it all a bit more palatable.

astronut's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Vomit, Gore, Blood, Alcohol, Animal death, Body horror, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Murder, and Grief

Moderate: Car accident

Minor: Cancer

opalmal's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Suicide, and Suicide attempt