Reviews tagging 'Violence'

No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull

30 reviews

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Gore, Transphobia, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

meaghanelizabook's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Violence, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Mental illness, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Forced institutionalization

ofbooksandechos's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

di questo libro non ci ho capito niente. l'ho trovato noioso, forse perché la storia si sviluppa lentamente. in effetti leggendo mi è sembrato che l'autore stesse solo mettendo le fondamenta per il prossimo libro.
non penso continuerò la serie.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Gore, and Grief

Minor: Police brutality

more cws: implied CSA, death of a loved one

obscurepages's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Wow wow wow. This took me on quite a ride and made me question what we know about the world.

It dove into the paranormal/supernatural, the secret organizations, the magic and the scientific theories that surround us, the reality that we know, the hardships that people go through, the society and the system we live in.

Another thing that really impressed me is the writing style and the prose. It was dark and eerie and so captivating. And the fact that the author blended horror, fantasy, and science fiction and he did it so brilliantly. 😭👏

There are a lot of characters and it can get confusing/hard to keep up. However, the way these different characters and their perspectives intertwine was so cool and impressive. (And hello??? That unnamed narrator?!) Kudos to the author for creating such an intricate yet satisfying network of point of views.

I really enjoyed reading this y'all. This one surprised me and I loved it!

E-arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Full review soon! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, and Murder

allisonwonderlandreads's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective tense 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

4.0

There is some serious world-building mindfuckery on display in this book. The writing is spare and stunning, drawing up images, emotions, and philosophical questions with apparent ease. The narration style confused me at first, not because it is poorly done but because it intends to obscure. We have a seemingly invisible observer as a first-person narrator popping in and out of third-person narration surrounding interconnected but distinct people and plots. I found this an intriguing approach, especially because each person was magnetic even as they were enigmatic. My favorite character was Ridley, an anarchist and worker-owner of a co-op bookstore, who also happens to be an ace trans man. The different characters lead us through the moments where they are pivotal actors or key witnesses in a historic shift for humanity. There is something more natural about this multifaceted approach than following in the wake of a single hero who sees and does everything herself.

I'll keep the discussion of plot brief because I don't want to ruin the experience of seeing the mysteries unfold as the author intends. The gist is this: in the near future, humanity fractures open at the revelation of monsters among us, leading to violence, hatred, and the unveiling of long-pursued secret agendas. The conflicts among many factions will sow chaos on a massive scale.

This eerie fantasy has elements of physics and monster lore spread across a vast landscape, only the first tentative venture in what will require greater exploration. It covers harsh and relevant topics of structural violence, capitalism, abuse, and drug addiction while also peering into philosophical debate about choice and meaning that will take significant time and thought to percolate.

Thanks to Blackstone and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this cleverly woven tapestry of a book, out 9/7.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Violence, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Blood, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Transphobia, Death of parent, and Acephobia/Arophobia

melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition

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

4.25

Thank you to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for an ALC of this book

A diverse cast of characters come together when Monsters are publicly revealed to be real, and a power struggle between those who want equal rights for Monsters and those who want them swept under the rug begins.

Firstly, I want to say that I would love to reread this book with a physical copy in my hands, because there were so many characters that I was getting a little lost with just the audiobook.  That being said--I don't think it was the audio's fault at all, and I loved loved loved the narration by Dion Graham .

There were so many amazing characters with diverse identities that I loved! This was dark and tempting and I loved reading/listening to it! I thought it was so interesting and I love that this was just the start of a series! Can't wait to read more!

Pub Date: Sept 7, 2021

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, and Gore

Minor: Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Suicide attempt

ceilidhwilliams's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, and Cannibalism

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

naiadtales's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Arc provided by Netgalley in exchange of a honest review


THIS WAS SOO GOOD, REAAD IT, trust me you won't be disappointed. It was different not a bad different just not like anything I've read before. I loved learning about the different monsters and their abilities. The first 30% or so was a bit confusing with the introduction of the different characters and not knowing who was telling the story and how they connected but once we cleared that hill I was good.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Drug use, and Violence

gideonrose's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.75

Wildly complex and interesting. I loved the characters, and the queer diversity among them. The end was a bit abrupt, and I wanted more from it, especially with the development of <the secret societies.>

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Police brutality, and Murder

loinereads's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

At first, this novel was very disturbing. I had trouble getting into the story, and the switching of point of view confused me more than anything... Until I reached the second half of No Gods, No Monsters. At that point, I started to understand that the 'random' events and stories occurring were in fact intertwined. However, they proved themselves to be so entangled that I ended up finding difficult to clearly tell them apart. Indeed, the multiple voices soon proves itself to be reunited by one voice and one mind.

The characters in No Gods, No Monsters were superbly written. The intertwining of their voices, thoughts, and points of view gave a sense of uniformity and gospel-like cast of characters. Eventually, it was almost difficult to tell one character from another since their voices were so perfectly well embedded together.

The horrific and gloomy mood of the novel really surprised me, though usually it's not my cup of tea. I adored Cadwell Turnbull's writing style, and his narration techniques were incredible. In the end, I think that the confusion that arose in me when I began reading was intentional. Cadwell Turnbull managed to make me feel disturbed, lost, afraid, anxious, sad and angry at the same time.

I think that Cadwell Turnbull's No Gods, No Monsters is a novel that I enjoyed no necessarily for the plot –although it was brilliantly built– but for the writing style and techniques. I am really looking forward reading more of Turnbull's novels. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence