Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Along the River of Flesh by Kristopher Triana

9 reviews

readingwithgoose's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Really solid follow-up to the first book. Triana's writing is good, if a little wordy and verging on purple at times. He's also great at crafting characters with interesting layers, and I have to admit I'm still pretty enthralled by the River Man himself. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Incest, Body horror, Sexual assault, Rape, Pedophilia, Gore, Animal cruelty, Murder, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Pregnancy, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Grief, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, and Suicidal thoughts

k_rose95's review

dark medium-paced

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

3.5

Triana knows how to write disturbing characters well.

Felt like Gary was just shoehorned in for plot though, he didn't contribute anything to the end game.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Torture, Incest, Misogyny, Death, Pedophilia, Ableism, Sexual content, Trafficking, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Rape, Abandonment, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, and Violence

jimgerdes's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

(This review contains some unmarked spoilers for Gone to See the River Man, this novel's predecessor. Recommend not reading this book if you have not read the prior work)

There's always a skepticism that comes with sequels, especially when it is for a beloved novel like Gone to See the River Man, Krisopher Triana's 2020 breakout horror novel about the personal hells we create for ourselves.  Too often sequels are made either with a commercial interest in mind to build on the sales success of the original work or are cumbersome retreads of the same material.

A good sequel builds and expands on the original text, either taking the story in new and interesting directions, or further exploring the themes the prior work touched on.  A sequel is an opportunity for an author to revisit their work, understand what worked and did not, or explore new directions with the same ideas.

It's too bad then, that following River Man's thoughtful explorations of the destruction of an American family, sexuality in society, and dive into the psyche of a truly despicable protagonist, that the sequel would fail so completely to recapture these elements that made the first book so fascinating.

Structurally, there is nothing new in River of Flesh that separates it meaningfully from its predecessor.  The protagonists, as noted in the book's blurb, seek the deranged killer from the first novel as he ventures to see the mythical River Man.  This means the book takes place in the same setting, revisiting the same set pieces from the previous novel.  In this way, Triana quite literally retreads his previous novel. 

The sole structural difference being that this novel has four main POV characters compared to the previous novel's one.  This works against the story, as there is little time to truly understand and watch these characters grapple with their demons as we saw Lori do in River Man.  While Lori revealed herself to be a truly deplorable person, we saw her grapple with those feelings, and make her choices accordingly.  None of these characters carry that same dynamism.  They are unrepentantly horrible from the beginning (with the exception of one who is mostly a helpless victim), with no reflection or exploration of why.  This makes them far less interesting, and their fates feel unsatisfying to see play out.

In this way, Triana's story really misses the mark of what was previously set up in River Man.  Where Lori journeyed through her own personal hell as a result of her choices, these characters are simply brute and blunt objects wielded against each other.

There is one other thing to be said and that is the depiction of the character's evil deeds.  Obviously, the grotesqueness of the protagonist is an important piece of the original, but where River of Flesh falls flat is that these characters' actions do not seem to serve any central theme; they are simply perpetrators of the most horrific acts of evil that can be described.  Their pasts are truly shocking once they (somewhat arbitrarily) revealed two-thirds of the way through the story, but they do not contribute to the readers' understanding of them as people other than that they are despicable and revel in their own evil.

The descriptions of these acts are frankly gratuitous.  They don't serve the story or the characters and seemingly exist to be shocking and repulsive.  This is not captivating horror, and is my biggest disappointment with this novel, especially since Triana has previously revealed himself to be extremely capable of approaching these subjects thoughtfully in this very series.

There are some poignant things touched on in this story, but most of them don't tread any particularly new ground.  It does not further develop the themes of the original work, nor does it use those themes in new and thoughtful ways.  The splatter and depravity are taken to new levels, but these were never the aspects of River Man that made it an interesting read.  It's concerning that Triana did not take that into account when writing this sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Death of parent, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Misogyny, Police brutality, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Sexual violence, Torture, Domestic abuse, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Sexism, Animal death, Blood, Death, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Violence, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Racism, Murder, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Body horror

missgrangerr's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Great sequel!  I saw the 'twists' from the beginning however that did not take away from the story.  Looking forward the the 3rd installment!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Body horror, Sexual assault, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Torture, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Police brutality, Death, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Child abuse, and Racism

kikis_a_book_wh0r3's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.75

The psychological mind f*** of this book is *chefs kiss*

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Murder, Incest, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Body horror, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Gore, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Alcohol, Miscarriage, Death, and Police brutality

hapikohw's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

3.5 for me. I loved the first book so much and at first I was afraid this would be a step down from it, but in the last third of the book I really got the same tense dread and anticipation I got in the first. Killing, the river and the River Man is just a real good horror.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Child death, Rape, Sexism, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Violence, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Blood, Death, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Torture

aykdanroyd's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Gore, Emotional abuse, Mass/school shootings, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Death, Animal cruelty, Grief, Murder, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

readingwithbritney's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I absolutely love Kristopher Triana’s books. They’re dark, disturbing, and gory. They’re the perfect read for the fall months, especially October. This book picks up right where the first one left off. June, Keith, and Gary are all on a journey to the same place, but for their own reasonings. Along the way they discover dark, gruesome things, and are faced with their own demons in the process. Kristopher Triana knows how to write gripping, horrifying novels that catch your attention from the beginning. These books are relatively short, which is another reason why I love them. I finished this book in under 24 hours! If you like horror, maybe even extreme horror, this book will be right up your alley! (Also, Keith is the WORST. I hated his character so much!!)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Blood, Sexual assault, Cursing, Excrement, Gore, Incest, Torture, Violence, Death, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Trafficking

amandaglowgetter's review

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Police brutality, Gore, Incest, Sexual content, Murder, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Body horror, Death, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Violence, and Child abuse

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Eating disorder