Reviews tagging 'War'

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

93 reviews

sunn_bleach's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

4.75

He is dancing. He says that he will never die.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, War, Animal death, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Mental illness, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Pedophilia

salmonite's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Excrement, Rape, Animal death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Racism, Confinement, Hate crime, Violence, Cursing, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Death, Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Mental illness, Murder, War, Grief, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Bullying, Gore, Pedophilia, Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Alcohol, and Torture

blipsk's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Might be my favourite book of all time. McCarthy's prose is transcendental. He has a gift for evoking amazing imagery with the lightest touch of description, just perfect, efficient word choice.

It's hard to talk about what happens in the book. It's brutal and relentless. A lot of the characters feel like sketches, we don't get very deep into any of them, even the main POV. And they are without exception awful people. And yet I found myself caring about The Kid a lot by the end.

Reading this book feels a bit like a bad dream, and finishing it felt like the emotional equivalent of muscle ache after hard exercise. It's a book I know I will come back to and reread many times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, War, Racism, Colonisation, Animal cruelty, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, and Child death

princemyshkin's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.0

Like nothing else, the pages and prose flow like spilled blood. Ultra violent, decedent. Pulling punches only to save the viewer from the worst abuses.
Initially feeling stilted, once you accept the patter, it rushes over you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Excrement, Genocide, Grief, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, Hate crime, Rape, Sexism, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Physical abuse, Child death, Death, Deportation, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Eating disorder, Murder, Slavery, Trafficking, Violence, and War

luisatkinson's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Racism, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Murder, Pedophilia, Genocide, Blood, Gun violence, Xenophobia, War, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Colonisation, Child abuse, Misogyny, Gore, Excrement, and Alcohol

redmarten83's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Violence, Vomit, War, Alcohol, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Xenophobia, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Murder, Gore, Racial slurs, Medical content, Mental illness, Blood, Cursing, Drug use, Kidnapping, Bullying, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Rape

linsolv's review against another edition

dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Xenophobia, War, Medical content, Racial slurs, Death, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Murder, and Racism

leo_mal's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No

5.0

The buffalo hunter passage is gonna stay with me for a while.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, War, Blood, Alcohol, Death, Child death, Racial slurs, Excrement, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Cursing, Ableism, Hate crime, and Racism

Moderate: Pedophilia and Rape

fatherofmysteries's review against another edition

dark informative reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

There is no review I could write that could begin to sum up the journey that this book took me on

He is dancing, dancing. He says that he will never die.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Vomit, Genocide, Murder, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Blood, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Confinement, War, Violence, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Alcohol, Death, Child death, Drug use, Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Gore, Stalking, Torture, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Medical content, Cannibalism, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Incest, Addiction, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Body horror, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Pedophilia, and Grief

ablomso96's review against another edition

challenging dark tense 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? Yes

5.0

Blood Meridian is a masterpiece. McCarthy’s prose is deeply evocative, and the images remain with you for days. It is not, however, for the faint of heart. McCarthy’s style is difficult to approach and his depictions of violent are extremely graphic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, and War