Reviews tagging 'Blood'

This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno

74 reviews

insomniacsun's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Thank you. I love you. I’m sorry. Thank you. I love you.
I’m sorry. For the things that still need to be written out.

Premetto che sono una mezza cartuccia quando si tratta di horror, ma se si parla di libri incentrati sul lutto, devo esserci. 

Sono molto contenta nel vedere che l'autore ha sfoggiato il meglio della sua prosa nelle descrizioni del lutto che invade la vita di Thiago, e non mi sorprende il fatto che questo libro sia nato dall'elaborazione di una sua perdita. 
I primi capitoli ambientati al funerale della moglie sono sicuramente la parte migliore del libro: per quanto l'elemento horror che ha seguito mi abbia raggelato il sangue nelle vene, quei passaggi mi hanno sviscerato come nessun demonio potrà mai fare. Kudos.

People cannot bear to think there are channels of human experience that are closed off to them, that they’ll never know. People want to believe their experience is universal, that nothing’s outside their scope.

Onestamente, dopo aver letto la trama, mi aspettavo un libro molto più incentrato sull'assistente Itza (stile AI che prende coscienza) invece è decisamente a tema sovrannaturale, che ho comunque apprezzato. L'autore ha gestito meravigliosamente la tensione e la confusione del protagonista di fronte a situazioni surreali, specialmente nel secondo arc.

Al momento sto ancora rimuginando sul finale, che mi ha lasciato un po' perplessa, e questo mi blocca dal dare 5 stelle al libro. Probabilmente rileggerò il libro per avere una visione più ampia fin dal principio. Alla fine, il fascino di un finale aperto come questo sta anche nel godersi una nuova esperienza con ogni rilettura. So che ci rifletterò su a lungo.

Penso che avrebbe funzionato meglio come finale aperto se ci fossero stati più riferimenti e approfondimenti su questo fatidico "banchetto". Sicuramente non è un lieto fine, e penso che decidendo di farla finita abbia preso posto alla tavolata, ma non capisco come questa maledizione sia partita. Però il passaggio alla terza persona, prima con la fotocamera nel sogno, e infine con il cambio di pronomi, è stato un colpo d'effetto. The Cook ha sicuramente avuto il sopravvento ben prima che Thiago si suicidasse e il colpo di grazia, a mio parere, l'ha dato la conversazione con Esteban.

Comunque sia, Moreno mi ha stregato con questo debutto, per cui il suo nome è uno che terrò sicuramente a mente, aspettando di leggere altri suoi libri.
------------

EDIT: portato su a 4.5 perchè non riesco a smettere di pensarci su. Tra svariate interpretazioni sulla natura di certi avvenimenti, e la validità di tutte loro, mi sento in obbligo di dover lodare un libro del genere. Riflettere sugli intrighi di questa storia ormai è parte della mia routine. 

---

Content Warnings

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

bookishcookiemonster's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

3.5

A solid exploration of what greif feels like. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Suicide, Gore, Medical trauma, Death, Murder, Body horror, Alcohol, Death of parent, Violence, Car accident, and Blood

Minor: Xenophobia, Racism, and Cursing

bedetterman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.5

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Medical content, and Abandonment

rorunyon96's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, and Animal death

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts

kirahaycock21's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.25

This book was actually super well written. I literally couldn’t put it down- I read it in one sitting. It was confusing though, but I think that was deliberate on the authors part. There was a lot of symbolism, and it could be interpreted a lot of different ways. But I loved the simple writing style and the way it addressed the feelings behind losing a loved one. Some parts of it were genuinely scary too. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Mental illness, Blood, Cursing, Gore, Animal death, Body horror, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Deportation, Death of parent, Hate crime, and Cancer

Minor: Rape, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Vomit

nithya_natalya's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This book was written in second person (the narrator is writing as if he is speaking to his wife, so her refers to the reader as 'you'). I thought this was a really interesting way of making the reader connect with the narrator. As the reader, you're watching the narrator cope with "your" death, which makes the whole thing more unsettling. I also love horror that is cyclical, which I think is a key component of horror, and also of grief. Not the scariest thing I've ever read, but I did spook myself while reading this at night. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Grief, Gore, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Death of parent

chelly_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

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

books_withblooms's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Blood

Moderate: Suicide, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, Cursing, Death of parent, Gore, and Grief

kassiebee's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

grief, loss, family, and a some pretty cool mexican supernatural elements. 

i was creeped out, my heart was heavy, i was taken to another world.. totally immersed, i finished this booked totally jaded. and i loved it. 

a bit slow in the beginning but with a purpose. i sensed the slow descent of his mental health, still with a possibility that nothing is really happening. until its not. 

im going to go watch some cartoons now ..

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Death of parent, Death, Gore, Grief, Body horror, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Confinement, Cancer, and Medical content

Minor: Racism and Drug use

ghast's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Car accident, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Child abuse and Vomit