Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

John Dies @ the End by David Wong

9 reviews

rkpaulson96's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

This book is a ton of fun, though the plot meanders quite a bit, making it seem like it drags on. Some of the writing also hasn’t aged well, such as the repeated use of the r-word and n-word. But the characters are lovable and the writing overall is funny and engaging. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

vixenreader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny lighthearted mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

It’s like if Thomas Pynch wrote a crass version of “Supernatural” set in the same universe as “Welcome to Night Vale,” with the occasional visits from Rick and Morty. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gun violence, Sexual content, Suicide, Cannibalism, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Islamophobia, Medical content, and Death of parent

There is a variety of explicit subjects in this book, but be aware of exploding dogs, siblings dying, an obscene amount of flatulence, racial stereotypes, death having no consequence, reality being malleable, and frat boys using multiple slurs and politically incorrect phrases.

unit25's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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

5.0

Exactly my kind of book. I really enjoyed this. The whole time I was reading it I thought, "this would be good to make into a movie"... Then when I finished it, I looked it up, and found out that it has been made into a movie! Then I watched the trailer, and realized that I've already seen the movie! I never put the two together in my head, so I'm going to have to go and rewatch the movie again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

turtleofhades's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I'd forgotten how early 00s this book was. Some of the language punted me back to a time of low rise flared jeans and layered polos; this is not a good thing.

It's still a good story with not quite unlikable main characters. I'm ready to continue on this series again as I just found out there's a fourth book (super excited since the author's writing has gotten so dang good with the Zoey Ashe series).

Definitely a must read for any time of year, but especially October. Who doesn't need a little existential dead and body horror every now and then? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Excrement, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Bullying, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

em_chen's review against another edition

2.5

read this bc i was a cracked girl back in the day but forgot that my tolerance for bullshit used to be way higher. teen incel shock value vibes.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Racial slurs, Antisemitism, Car accident, and Alcohol

r-slur used frequently, n word and other slurs

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

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

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