Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

John Dies at the End by David Wong

8 reviews

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

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

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

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

quynh23's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Drug use

Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, and Bullying

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

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

Minor: Death of parent

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

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

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: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, Violence, Racism, Racial slurs, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Drug use, Body horror, Blood, Cursing, Excrement, and Gore

Moderate: Vomit, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Car accident, Animal death, Ableism, and Alcohol

Minor: Rape, Antisemitism, and Suicidal thoughts

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: Mental illness, Outing, Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Bullying, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Racism, Alcohol, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

carrionkid's review against another edition

5.0

I've actually read this several times before but I got hit with the mad desire to reread it. What appears to be a horror comedy about cosmic, eldritch terrors on the surface actually belies a surprisingly nuanced and sympathetic story of mental illness and disability. It's insane, balls to the wall crazy, funny, clever, and overall just a compelling read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, Excrement, and Suicidal thoughts