Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

John Dies @ the End by David Wong

29 reviews

pinkmalady's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Laugh out loud funny, psychologically horrifying, and gut-wrenchingly volatile... This is the exact kind of thing I will be thinking about for a long time. The way it handles mental illness and trauma targeted me specifically in such a deeply visceral way... The narration perfectly captures how it feels to lose your mind.

I adored the characters and their relationships. While I went into this mostly blind, I knew prior that

Amy and Dave would end up together. I'm honestly surprised at how well their relationship and their respective traumas relative to their relationship were fleshed out. It absolutely makes you feel for these two. Especially when Amy's life is on the line.

This book stressed and stresses me out. I'm afraid that if I think too hard about it I'll start spiraling... Going in, I had the feeling this book would rearrange my brain chemistry, and I believe it didn't fail. It's utterly chilling, and I don't usually spook easily when it comes to horror.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Xenophobia, Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Antisemitism

thedadsie's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism and Racial slurs

Minor: Drug use

jaydoncornell's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted reflective 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: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racism, Abandonment, and Alcohol

entityj's review against another edition

dark funny fast-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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Excrement

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Islamophobia, and Alcohol

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. 

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Content Warnings

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

jstatt's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny fast-paced

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

3.5

This book is simultaneously hilarious and scary. Before reading this I didn't think that someone could mix Lovecraftian Horror and comedy and it come out good, but hey, it works. I highly recommend this if you enjoy a bit of laughs with your horror. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Racial slurs and Dysphoria

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

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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

yikesofikeso's review against another edition

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

2.0

While under the guise of comedy, Wong loves using slurs and racist/sexist/ableist language to make a generally uncomfortable story. I was especially uncomfortable when he assumed a girl was mentally retarded and hated her and mocked her relentlessly for years, only to realize she was perfectly neurotypical and immediately be in love with her and have her love him back. Now that’s good writing. Yikes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, and Lesbophobia

ohkmurr's review against another edition

dark funny medium-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? It's complicated

2.0

I was immediately hooked in the prologue, but I quickly fell out of it, and by the end I was not into it at all. It's like a Supernatural spoof trying to be Fight Club and Donnie Darko at the same time. I warn you: this book is not for the weak stomached either—I had the creepy-crawls the entire time and was generally grossed out for a lot of it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Car accident, and Murder

Lots of creepy-crawly content—mostly bug-related.