Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Dead Take the A Train by Richard Kadrey, Cassandra Khaw

20 reviews

autumnrevisited's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful medium-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Drug abuse, Addiction, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Alcohol, Blood, Death of parent, Body horror, Cannibalism, Classism, and Death

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Domestic abuse

jessicafee86's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

I heard someone describe Cassandra Khaw's writing as gorgeously, gooey horror and this book is a perfect example of that. This is the only book I've ever read that has felt weirdly hopeful even while I'm digging through endless piles of intestines and bowel for pages on end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Murder, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicide, Blood, Torture, Cursing, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Grief

mmuutthh's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

5.0

This is a fun, brisk read that is my introduction to both of these authors. I would be happy to pick up something by either individually to see if some of the things I didn't really latch on to were general interests of both authors or elevated more by one than the other. That tone is one of those "everybody sounds the same and says 'fuck' a lot, does drugs, and is way cooler than you," which is fine, but I kind of feel like I grew out of that after reading too much Warren Ellis. To each their own. 

I loved the horror elements and some of it worked good twists on those tried and true cosmic beings from beyond tropes. 

I want a book all about St. Joan! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Self harm, Violence, Death, Cursing, Gore, Body horror, Suicide, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Murder, Gun violence, and Blood

embee007's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

“Fiction is the lens through which humanity makes sense of the mystical.”

Well, this was...interesting. Jarring POV changes at times, especially the random throwaway POV characters. I've read Kadry before, but I haven't read Khaw yet, but it seemed like I could tell when it changed from one author to another (maybe it was just the severe changes in POV tho).

I did enjoy it overall, but it was just so jarring at times that it took me out of the book & I would take a (several hours long) break & have to force myself to come back.

“Someone bring me pants,” she demanded grandly. “I’m going to kill a motherfucker.”

I do not suggest this book for anyone whom is not okay with body horror, lots of gore, viscera, tentacles, & random eyeballs in places they do not belong. Murder is absolutely negotiable/implied. The characters range from loveably morally grey to "why are they not dead yet?!" To you actively cheer for their death. This is not a sweet & cozy book.

Something I did not understand:

it's stated the magic system is basically that rich people have magic. Harvard teaches a class on magic, but it's secret. Wall Street runs on magic... But our MC is & always has been poor, & it's never explained how she got her magic?

"The universe spins. Worlds whirl in the great void. Most of all, things change."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, and Torture

jenny10309's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence, Domestic abuse, and Self harm

pencilled_robin's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

 liked the characters.

Julie and Sarah made such a cute couple - I was rooting for them all the way.

Also, more St. Joan please! 

The authors have a talented way with words, and there were several times where I had to stop and marvel at how well they phrased something. However, the endless descriptions of cruelty and gruesome, painful deaths did get wearing after a while. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Self harm, Murder, Suicide, Death, Suicide attempt, Torture, Blood, Body horror, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Misogyny

Minor: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Cannibalism

katieo156's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

The magic and worldbuilding were very cool, and some of the side characters (Dead Air and St Joan especially) shone. Unfortunately, the pacing didn't, and neither did the resolution- it was far too easy and cheapened the work it took to get there. The humor wasn't for me but I think that's because it was a little buzzfeed millenially(?) along with the occasional awkward, surface level comment on wealth and privilege thrown in and then forgotten. If you're gonna make a point, make it! I liked Julie and Sarah, but

their relationship left too much in the past- we were told they were super close and that their connection came from their history, but that chemistry didnt really translate to the page.

It also felt like it was written with a thesaurus at hand- why would Tyler, a Harvard businessman, use the Navy term "scuttlebutt" instead of gossip? I also laughed out loud when Julie said "deep woods and water- Yonkers." Are we talking about the same Yonkers??? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Addiction, Blood, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Murder, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, and Drug use

pm_me_book_recs's review

adventurous dark funny 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

3.5

 I really liked the conceit, but some of the writing took me out of the story. I don't know if it was one of the authors, or if it was supposed to be part of a character, but SOMEONE kept using super obscure words without any leads to their meanings. I'm the weird kid that read the thesaurus for fun, and there multiple times it was necessary for me to drop the book and research what the heck was trying to be conveyed. It also made the character feel very edgy in an already bluntly "I'm a badass GIRL who does inappropriate BOY stuff, like swear and do drugs. YEAH."

Anyways... aside from that, the story is a really cool concept! I enjoyed the urban aspect and the corporate greed analogy, the magic system, tying things together with deep seated trauma, the come-uppance, and the demons felt so creepy and insidious! I want to add that there is excessive substance abuse and alcoholism, which I did not mind because of the context with trauma and depression (been there), but some of the dialogue surrounding it was borderline edge-lordy...

Super LGBTQ friendly, surprisingly heartwarming in that department considering the horror/thriller focus. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, Torture, Death, Self harm, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Drug abuse, Addiction, Blood, Medical content, Alcohol, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

readyourbookshelf's review

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I absolutely loved this book. . . What the fuck is this book about? 

The plot of this book is completely disjointed and wild and somehow was compelling all the way through.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Addiction, Body horror, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Gore, Self harm, Violence, Emotional abuse, Murder, Death, and Excrement

shorelinepages's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Addiction, Blood, Alcoholism, and Body horror

Moderate: Murder, Sexism, Medical content, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Vomit and Cannibalism