Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch, Vol. 1: At the Edge of Empire by Daniel Kraus

4 reviews

kathryn51's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Torture, Body horror, Physical abuse, Violence, Gore, and Death

Moderate: Cursing, Alcohol, Medical content, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, and Hate crime

Minor: Child death, Homophobia, Sexual content, Child abuse, and Physical abuse

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Body horror, Gore, War, Blood, Torture, and Child death

Moderate: Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, and Gun violence

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Drug use

bookish_magpie's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

4.0

 This book is absolutely NOT for 14 year olds- I don't know who said it was ok to print that on the bottom of the back cover, but clearly they didn't read it. 

This book is meant to make you uncomfortable. If you read it and recoiled, then Kraus did his job as an author. There were many instances where I found myself shaking my head in horror and/or disbelief. "The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch, Vol. 1" is not a pretty book. It's a tragic, gory story about a dead teen walking through life, passing through the centuries. 

I give it a 4/5. It was a masterclass in abjection, but I'll need a few days before reading the sequel. This one stays on the shelf. 

Content Warnings (in no particular order): Gore, Death, Sex, Derogatory Language (aka slurs), Self Harm, Suicide, War, Murder, Violence 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Torture, War, and Child death

Moderate: Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Racism, Child death, and Death of parent

Minor: Drug use and Fire/Fire injury

jarnbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed reading it. It started out fast, slowed once you hit WW1, then gains speed after that. Zebulon has an interesting way of telling his own story that keeps you engaged, until he is bored; then you’re bored. The secondary characters add a lot to this book and you’ll find yourself hating most of them but all of them are in-depth and have unique interactions with Zebulon that make them memorable, even if they only show up for a couple pages. With that, its very much a who’s-who of history and that’s the only way you can figure out what year it is. And when first reading this, I thought Zebulon was a self-insert (and still think he is to an extent). Nonetheless, I’m excited to read the second book and see what happens to Zebulon next. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, War, Alcohol, Death, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Torture, Medical content, Medical trauma, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Slavery

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Child death, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Murder

Minor: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Abortion, Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Vomit, Self harm, Pregnancy, Car accident, Excrement, Infertility, Infidelity, and Rape

Most of these are one-time things that happen over the course of a few pages but are extremely explicit. The most graphic was the war arc that happens during part 4. There is a ton of body horror throughout the book including dismemberment, and graphic descriptions of body decay.