Reviews tagging 'Gore'

You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue

15 reviews

joannalouise's review against another edition

challenging dark funny informative mysterious fast-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

marielulus's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gore, Violence, Excrement, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Rape, Torture, and Colonisation

Minor: Incest and Cannibalism

emmamarie0's review against another edition

I personally do not find gore humorous, it just repulses me so this book wasn’t for me at all, though all themes really were promising.  Kinda sad I don’t like it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore

swilkes's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Violence, and War

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Rape and Slavery

mscalls's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Rape, Xenophobia, Blood, and War

bisexualwentworth's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is a very strange book. I think it accomplished what the author wanted it to, and I think I liked it. I certainly looked at the world through a slightly shifted lens for a few hours.

You Dreamed of Empires is experimental historical fiction that reads like fantasy. I mean that in a complimentary way.

I will probably revisit it at some point.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Racism, Rape, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Incest, Slavery, and Religious bigotry

violinknitter's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

This is not the kind of book I typically read. But somewhere on social media someone complained about a racist review of it in the New York Times, and then recommended a review by Silvia Moreno-Garcia in the LA Times instead. 

Moreno-Garcia I *do* read, and her review convinced me to try this book. And I’m glad I did! It has a moody and almost pointilistic in texture, and I found the characters fascinating. Not likeable, but that wasn’t the intention.   

It took me a bit to get used to the complete absence of any dialogue punctuation, and the sff muscle-memory of being dumped into a world where many of the names & words are unfamiliar served me well. (While I was wondering to myself “why AM I so unfamiliar with so much of this? I’m a lover of history, and it’s literally the country next to mine!”)

Anyway, I think it was well worth the read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Gore

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Murder, and Colonisation

hamohero's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective 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

3.25

I did quite enjoy the cheeky narration but I barely understood what was happening without the historical/literary knowledge along with the lack of punctuation, huge cast with multiple names, and the sudden shifts in setting/povs.

Also tw:

mention of rape p111 and reference to said rape p129

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Murder, and War

klabardee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

Minor: Sexism and Excrement

shay_books's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Colonisation

Moderate: Gore