Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman

22 reviews

hamstringy's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

Unexpectedly really emotionally resonant! Pitched via Twitter as medieval Black Plague horror, and it’s definitely horror but a much quieter and disturbing horror rather than a nonstop onslaught of Big Events. Also somehow still very vulnerable and three-dimensional when approaching characters who have lived some contradictory and not-so-great choices. 

It’s also a particularly humanizing portrayal of a pandemic & a deeply religious response to that pandemic. It’s interesting to me that a lot of the attitudes around *somehow still living during horrible times* match very closely with the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Animal death, Gore, Torture, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Infidelity, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Grief, and Xenophobia

emilyplun's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Religious bigotry, Alcoholism, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Child death, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Grief, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, Torture, Animal death, Antisemitism, and Pedophilia

jomojobo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Sexism, Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, Torture, Violence, War, Death, Murder, Xenophobia, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, and Death of parent

Moderate: Antisemitism, Rape, Sexual violence, and Sexual content

Minor: Homophobia, Pedophilia, and Infidelity

shadowdra126's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book is one part Dark Souls, two parts Hieronymus Bosch, set to the soundtrack of every heavy metal band ever created, and finally seasoned with wit and humor through and through. 

This book was amazing and moving and also completely and totally fucking bitchin’

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Rape, Death, Cursing, Body horror, Alcohol, Murder, Religious bigotry, Torture, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Gore, Antisemitism, War, and Blood

garrettcz's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I liked it, but it felt longer than necessary and the ending was pretty confusing. I kept having to reread parts of the end over again before I really understood what was going on. The last 15% could have been tightened up. 

The characters and dialogue were the best parts. 

It had a lot more horror tropes than I expected. Very dark in places. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Torture, War, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Addiction, Biphobia, Violence, Vomit, Bullying, Chronic illness, Classism, Cursing, Gore, Murder, Child death, Confinement, Death, Excrement, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Antisemitism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pedophilia and Rape

darkpizza's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death of parent, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Violence, Classism, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Animal death, Torture, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexism, Rape, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Homophobia, Excrement, War, Vomit, and Misogyny

jordosba's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Antisemitism, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gore, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Rape, and Pedophilia

enbyrd44's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

1.0

I was not the target audience for this book.

The way the author talked about a twelve year old girls body was creepy. And then compound that with an almost rape that is turned into a bonding moment, utterly disgusting. 

The story itself felt very start stop to me. 

The idea was good, the execution just didn’t work for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Alcoholism, Child death, Vomit, and Murder

Moderate: Excrement, Rape, Body horror, Gore, and Religious bigotry

sheriffrockyraccoon's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I feel like I always have to knock stars off books for silly reasons, even if I liked them. Here, it is not the case. I was craving a good, medieval story and Google gave this book as the first result. I cannot believe Google just randomly offered me the best book I’ve read in YEARS.

I loved the references to Gnostic scripture and how it brought religion to life in such a way that now angels and God cannot be boring. That said, I believe this book can be enjoyed without being overly Christian- it’s a classic story about knights slaying monsters and supernatural forces that help him and his team along.

As a fan of Joan of Arc, I loved Delphine. Her character was compelling and fun, as were Matthieu and Thomas. This book is so funny with scenes packed with so much action I had to stop myself from reading too fast and savor it.

If you are a fan of knights, horror, and magic, I cannot recommend this book enough. It’s absolutely my favorite now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Religious bigotry, Violence, Gore, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Cursing, Blood, Body horror, Pandemic/Epidemic, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, Addiction, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Antisemitism, Excrement, Vomit, Sexual assault, Islamophobia, Torture, Pedophilia, and Grief

flintk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Sexual content, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Child death, War, Religious bigotry, Rape, Misogyny, Vomit, Violence, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Blood, Antisemitism, Alcohol, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical trauma, Islamophobia, Abandonment, Genocide, Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, Child abuse, Grief, Animal death, Alcoholism, Body horror, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Homophobia, Death, Cursing, Classism, Cannibalism, Hate crime, Confinement, and Chronic illness