Reviews tagging 'Gore'

John Dies @ the End by David Wong

41 reviews

cheetah26's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Racial slurs, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness and Excrement

Minor: Homophobia and Suicidal thoughts

seagullsaga's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

1.5

The only reason I finished this book is because I have a complex about DNFing books. 

It’s needlessly vulgar, racist, sexist, and full of slurs that serve no purpose. The occasionally actually funny joke does nothing to counter these or make the book anywhere near worth it. 

If you like this book you probably also think that Tyler Durden is a good role model. 

Every time I looked to see how much I had left of this book I was disappointed. It drags. There’s always more nonsensical toilet humor and psychedelic crap, and none of it does anything to tell a coherent story. I was wishing EVERY character died by the end. 

I don’t normally leave reviews, and especially not with text, but this book was so unpleasant that I had to get my feelings out somehow. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Excrement, Antisemitism, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Fatphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Vomit, Car accident, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Death of parent

scottnap's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing and Violence

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood

Minor: Animal death

fuglaepir's review against another edition

dark funny tense fast-paced

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

3.0

JDATE is outdated 00s internet humour (quite literally, given its original publishing was online) but I love this book to pieces. Pargin's prose here is immature but visceral. I read this book for the first time in two sittings. John, Dave and Amy are fantastic characters and their debut is worth reading... If you can stand some questionable language in places. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Car accident, and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism and Racial slurs

caseyf's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Ableism

Minor: Racial slurs and Suicidal thoughts

bubblescotch's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-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

3.75

Fascinating in theory, frustrating in execution. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, and Excrement

Moderate: Ableism, Racial slurs, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Racism

sweetslowreadin's review against another edition

Got like 30% of the book read and dropped it
Didn't think I'd want to drop a book and yet here we are
I swore I liked the movie but maybe I'm misremembering
The book is honestly nonsensical trash

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

acwhite's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

I first read this book around 2010 & had fond memories of the thrilling fever dream it is. So revisiting it in 2022 I was surprised to find my brain had edited out some choice language. I had no recollection of the excessive use of r*tard and occasional drops of the n word and f*g. Some of this language can be attributed to the book starting as a blog in the early 2000s but it still put a slight stain on the reread for me. 

I’m rating it so middling for the aforementioned language but also because the pacing was rough. Again I think we can blame the blog origins, the whole business seems like three novellas in a trench coat masquerading as a full novel. But I still came out the end having enjoyed it. 

The last third is the strongest part of the book in my opinion, Amy is a crucial character and “David” having a slightly different tone improved things. 

I have the whole quartet and do intend to read them all. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Racial slurs, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

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