Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones

7 reviews

eevee314's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.25

SGJ is just next level. I wasnt even in the mood for this type of book currently but it was so compelling I just couldn't stop till I was done. The way he writes is both simple and wildly evocative. Hes excellent at capturing a feeling or action perfectly in as few words as possible. 
A really new take on werewolves. 
I wouldn't say it's scary like a horror movie but it's visceral and raw with horror elements.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Violence

Minor: Child death and Rape

mandkips's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Gore, and Pedophilia

childofmongreldogs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

An absolutely gorgeous book in every sense of the word.

The elements of horror and sadness are so strong. Gore heavy and a difficult read in some places despite it's length and the absolute readability of it. I have so many thoughts and how the lycanthropy relates to intergenerational trauma, the mysticism of families, poverty, etc. Just absolutely masterful.

Despite the feeling of sadness I got reading the ending, it was surprising how hopeful the ending truly was. In a book that was frequently so bleak and painful, the idea that there's a possibility for a happy ending was euphoric. I don't know what to say except that this is probably my top read this year and possibly this decade.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Murder, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Police brutality, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Infertility, and Injury/Injury detail

ofbooksandechos's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Body horror, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Death of parent, Kidnapping, and Animal death

Minor: Domestic abuse and Adult/minor relationship

bookwormbi's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.0

I didn't get this book for most of the time I was reading it. If you're not here for a literary take on werewolves, this book isn't for you. That said, the ending absolutely made the book for me. the last two chapters finally let me know where the book was going and what it was meant to be about, and I'm going to be thinking about it for a while to come. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Gun violence, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Abandonment, Vomit, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Rape, Domestic abuse, Torture, Grief, Cannibalism, and Sexual violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

There's mentions of bestiality.

corar's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

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

4.0

Mongrels is a coming of age story about a boy who lives with his aunt and uncle on the fringes of society. They are outcasts that are barely getting by and constantly on the move. The chapters of the book are vignettes of his life that are not always told in order. There will be a chapter when he is eleven and the next will be when he is fifteen and the next will go back to when he is nine. They also switch from first person to third person between chapters. Despite the confusion this could cause, it worked. All of the chapters and the stories they told fit together and the order makes sense for the story. While this is a story about werewolves, it is much more than that. It is a coming of age story about a boy trying to figure out his place in the world. It has a much more literary feel than other werewolf books I have read. I think that anyone that likes werewolf stories should include this in their reading plans, but that those that like more realism in their books may enjoy it too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Death, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, and Animal death

Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, and Kidnapping

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cannibalism, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Pregnancy

sofipitch's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

I adored this book. I'm a slut for monsters as a metaphor for being an outsider, and this book delivered! I really hope this author does a vampire book, I just know it would be great.

I put complicated for diversity bc the character's race is never mentioned (there's an explanation for that at the end and well as why the main character character doesn't share his name) but I pictured the characters as Native American, since I knew that's the author's identity. There's also a part in the book where a child asks the MC if he's Mexican, which is common for Native Americans. But it's not 100% the characters are BIPOC 🤷‍♀️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Excrement, Cannibalism, Animal death, and Kidnapping