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Reviews tagging 'Medical content'
The Dead Take the A Train by Richard Kadrey, Cassandra Khaw
4 reviews
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.
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.
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
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
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
rwxtd's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
- 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? Yes
3.0
I picked this up from the library because I thought the title and cover were cool, and that was mostly it. I don't think the book was very good, but I also don't feel like it was a waste of time, so there's that.
Ultimately I think this book bothered me because it just wasn't consistent. I felt like Julie's character in particular was weirdly inconsistent in terms of morality; sometimes she'd be willing to work for someone or do something she didn't agree with because she was desperate for cash, and other times she would refuse even though she was still desperate for cash and it wasn't actually all that different of a situation. There were plot points that got mentioned and then never brought up again, or barely brought up again, and there were inconsistencies in the worldbuilding as well. Can you or can you not bring someone back to life? In what circumstances will it work and in what circumstances will it not work? It's hard to feel invested in the story if I don't understand the stakes, and it's hard to understand the stakes if the rules of the world and its magic system are inconsistent. I don't need a thorough description of every detail, I just need enough to feel like it makes sense. I also got a bit tired of the writing style after a while; it was very irreverent, sarcastic, basically what you'd expect from a typical foul-mouthed disaster human like Julie. Normally I do like that kind of thing, but I think it was just repetitive enough that I got a bit bored with it. It doesn't feel like it's really doing anything interesting or new, it just keeps throwing giant evil eldritch monsters at me and hoping that'll distract me from the fact that it's not a great book. Also, and I'm not gonna say much because spoilers, but I did not like the big climactic scene or how things ended up playing out there. It felt a little rushed, and also there are other reasons that I can't get into because spoilers.
All that being said: there were things I liked about this book! I liked the romance, it was very cute although I do wish we'd gotten a little bit more info about the relationship between Sarah and Julie: what was their relationship like before they stopped talking? Did they stop talking, or did they just grow apart? Is it fully no contact or do they still send like birthday texts and stuff? How long has it been? Was there a big fight? I just felt like I didn't have a lot of context, which I think undermined some of the cute romancey stuff because I didn't know where either of the characters were coming from. I did still think it was very cute most of the time. Their whole little squad was really cute and fun, actually. St. Joan was great, I liked her a lot. Dead Air was my favorite. I don't think that's super surprising to anyone. And I did think the monsters were fun and creepy; I don't know how much of it is fully original monsters and how much is based on like tropes/existing monsters within the genre or whatever, but I did think they were mostly pretty cool, aside from the fact that they couldn't seem to decide which of the world-ending monstrosities was actually worth their time and so just sort of did a little bit with all of them. I did also like Brad. He's barely in it and he's not at all relevant to the plot but I did like him, so shoutout to Brad. (I think it was Brad. I might have the name wrong. Sorry, Brad.)
Ultimately, this book was pretty mediocre. It wasn't awful, I didn't hate reading it, I just didn't think it was good. It's fine. It's not great. I liked most of the side characters more than I liked Julie herself, which was a bit dissappointing. The worldbuilding and characterization is inconsistent and the plot is a bit contrived, but there's a fun little group dynamic and a cute romance and abusers dying in painful ways, so if you're interested in exciting battles with eldritch monsters and not thinking about it too hard other than that, this would be a good choice.
Ultimately I think this book bothered me because it just wasn't consistent. I felt like Julie's character in particular was weirdly inconsistent in terms of morality; sometimes she'd be willing to work for someone or do something she didn't agree with because she was desperate for cash, and other times she would refuse even though she was still desperate for cash and it wasn't actually all that different of a situation. There were plot points that got mentioned and then never brought up again, or barely brought up again, and there were inconsistencies in the worldbuilding as well. Can you or can you not bring someone back to life? In what circumstances will it work and in what circumstances will it not work? It's hard to feel invested in the story if I don't understand the stakes, and it's hard to understand the stakes if the rules of the world and its magic system are inconsistent. I don't need a thorough description of every detail, I just need enough to feel like it makes sense. I also got a bit tired of the writing style after a while; it was very irreverent, sarcastic, basically what you'd expect from a typical foul-mouthed disaster human like Julie. Normally I do like that kind of thing, but I think it was just repetitive enough that I got a bit bored with it. It doesn't feel like it's really doing anything interesting or new, it just keeps throwing giant evil eldritch monsters at me and hoping that'll distract me from the fact that it's not a great book. Also, and I'm not gonna say much because spoilers, but I did not like the big climactic scene or how things ended up playing out there. It felt a little rushed, and also there are other reasons that I can't get into because spoilers.
All that being said: there were things I liked about this book! I liked the romance, it was very cute although I do wish we'd gotten a little bit more info about the relationship between Sarah and Julie: what was their relationship like before they stopped talking? Did they stop talking, or did they just grow apart? Is it fully no contact or do they still send like birthday texts and stuff? How long has it been? Was there a big fight? I just felt like I didn't have a lot of context, which I think undermined some of the cute romancey stuff because I didn't know where either of the characters were coming from. I did still think it was very cute most of the time. Their whole little squad was really cute and fun, actually. St. Joan was great, I liked her a lot. Dead Air was my favorite. I don't think that's super surprising to anyone. And I did think the monsters were fun and creepy; I don't know how much of it is fully original monsters and how much is based on like tropes/existing monsters within the genre or whatever, but I did think they were mostly pretty cool, aside from the fact that they couldn't seem to decide which of the world-ending monstrosities was actually worth their time and so just sort of did a little bit with all of them. I did also like Brad. He's barely in it and he's not at all relevant to the plot but I did like him, so shoutout to Brad. (I think it was Brad. I might have the name wrong. Sorry, Brad.)
Ultimately, this book was pretty mediocre. It wasn't awful, I didn't hate reading it, I just didn't think it was good. It's fine. It's not great. I liked most of the side characters more than I liked Julie herself, which was a bit dissappointing. The worldbuilding and characterization is inconsistent and the plot is a bit contrived, but there's a fun little group dynamic and a cute romance and abusers dying in painful ways, so if you're interested in exciting battles with eldritch monsters and not thinking about it too hard other than that, this would be a good choice.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Torture, Alcohol, Gore, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Murder, Self harm, Suicide, and Violence
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, and Medical content
Minor: Animal death and Cannibalism
I did my best with the content warnings, hopefully I'm not forgetting anything. This book is very violent and graphic, so if that's not the vibe then maybe save it for another day.kier__'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Death, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Grief, Murder, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Animal death and Sexual content
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