Reviews tagging 'Blood'

You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue

11 reviews

julan1027's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Rape, Colonisation, and War

hdkreads's review

challenging dark slow-paced

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

3.5

A very ambitious, short but slow-paced book. The story was interesting but I found it hard to follow and hard to stay invested. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Colonisation

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

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

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

stephyrm's review

adventurous challenging dark funny informative mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, and Vomit

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

rainbopagn's review against another edition

3.0

I had to switch to the audiobook to be able to finish this. I am not sure if there is something lost in the translation, but each character is identified by two or three different things; sometimes first or last name, some times title, and that makes it incredibly hard to follow. 

The biggest problem I had with the book itself and why I had to switch to audio is the fact that there is no separation between the text and when someone is speaking. It is hard to tell when something is being thought versus being spoken and by whom. 

SPOILERS
The ending being semi open doesn't accomplish what I think the author intended. If he intended for this to be the "what if" of Cortez's mission failing and the Maya Empire surviving him, then it is too ambiguous. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Incest, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, 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

aleyajo's review against another edition

adventurous informative medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

Fascinating look at Tenochtitlán history and what could have been. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Colonisation

30something_reads's review

adventurous challenging dark funny fast-paced

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

5.0

Honestly, this was a fever-dream (in the best way possible.)

A hallucinogenic and fantastical rendering of Mexican colonial history.  

I found that I best enjoyed this as a tandem read with the audiobook. It was very interesting to see the exclusion of quotation marks throughout the entire book but the narrator provided such great differentiation between characters during the dialogue.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, and Colonisation

Minor: Rape, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

ritual sacrifice