Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

John Dies @ the End by David Wong

16 reviews

kiotejayne's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

2.75

If HP Lovecraft, Hunter S Thompson, and the literal personification of internet culture circa 2009 had a child and that child was a mediocre author, they would write this book. It's fine. It's even funny at times. But it's cringey as all get out and it tries so damn hard. It's not a hard read and even moves along at a good pace. It's easy to read but the reading doesn't really get you anywhere. There's no point in reading this book. It brings nothing to the table. It's a lot like falling into an afternoon of reading cracked.com articles. You haven't improved your life any, you've been mildly entertained, and you probably ought to have been doing something else. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

laserdiscreader's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny fast-paced

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

3.75

An enjoyable read that was maybe made less enjoyable by some of the dated language. This was written in the '00s and it shows in the relatively frequent use of various slurs. The writing itself is very fast-paced; I found myself often rereading sections because I lost how things progressed so quickly. I'm not surprised this became a movie (haven't seen it yet) because of the pacing as well as the graphic descriptions of all the demonic happenings that, well, happen. One very bright part of the book is how well the author writes in the tone of the narrator. Probably one of the best examples I've seen for embodying a first person narrative with a certifiably wild story to tell. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

kassidyrose_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.75

I think the premise of the book was quite hard to get into, however, once I got into it, it was hard to put it down (possibly due to the fact that there was so much happening you had to keep reading it in order to understand what was happening). The main character was a bit hard to like, i love character flaws and all, but he was hard to love. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism

Minor: Racism

remie's review

adventurous dark funny reflective fast-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? It's complicated

0.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail

vsnuffles's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious sad 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

I picked this up and didn't get super into it but my brain is like that sometimes. It's generally not an indicator of whether or not I like a book. But I got back into it and really loved it! Real life got in the way a bit but I finally finished it this morning.

This will date the review a bit but there is something deeply cathartic about reading cosmic horror when Omicron is rearing its ugly head and the powers-that-be in our own governments are failing us in sometimes minor and sometimes major ways. Just the huge complexity of these systems is a kind of cosmic horror. At least we aren't dealing with the (all-too-often literal) shit they have to in this book though.

Glad I read it. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, and Excrement

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Mental illness, Torture, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, and Injury/Injury detail

carrionkid's review against another edition

5.0

I've actually read this several times before but I got hit with the mad desire to reread it. What appears to be a horror comedy about cosmic, eldritch terrors on the surface actually belies a surprisingly nuanced and sympathetic story of mental illness and disability. It's insane, balls to the wall crazy, funny, clever, and overall just a compelling read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Car accident, and Death of parent