Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Sign Here by Claudia Lux

42 reviews

casber's review

dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Self harm, Infidelity, Cursing, Gun violence, Death, Alcohol, Child death, Eating disorder, and Body horror

Moderate: Suicide, Drug use, Abandonment, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death and Abortion

waterbear0821's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I really enjoyed this! It started out giving me a bit of a Carl Hiaasen vibe, which I mean in the best possible way, with characters that are a bit outlandish but mostly lovable. Then it took a bit of a Gone Girl turn and the second half was indeed so tense I was desperate to know what came next. There are twists! There’s suspense! It’s still pretty funny even when it’s actually a bit scary. I enjoyed the writing. I enjoyed the characters. It’s a bit dark but it is about Hell, after all. I will definitely be looking forward to more by this author!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Self harm, and Torture

Moderate: Gun violence and Drug use

lizacorn's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Death, Self harm, Infidelity, and Child abuse

Moderate: Gun violence, Bullying, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Sexism, Drug use, Misogyny, and Child death

Minor: Sexual content, War, and Gaslighting

amesreads's review

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Self harm, Death, Gun violence, Suicide, and Eating disorder

Minor: Abortion

annorabrady's review

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

The premise was interesting and the writing compelling, but I still struggled through a good portion of the book. Especially in terms of Silas' interactions with Ruth, who was only a 10th grader. 

Also, climax of the story was really good but the epilogue ruins it, in my opinion.

The whole time traveling aspect, especially one so far before the main storyline, means none of what happened in the story matters. Because even if somehow all the events happened as they happened before the story began, the events of the climax couldn't happen because there wouldn't be a reason for him to intervene.

If you struggle with eating disorders, self harm, and suicide, procede with caution with this book. 

Another note on the ending,

I thought that Mickey was the one in the family that Pey needed to get a "complete set" since he rushed to save her as she became "disconnected." So I was very much confused when Mickey still died and then the deal was made with Silas.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Child death, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Gun violence, and Suicide

soshereads_'s review

dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Violence, Self harm, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide, Self harm, Grief, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Pedophilia, Murder, Gun violence, Blood, Bullying, and Cancer

Minor: Abortion, Torture, and Child death

cheezh8er's review against another edition

dark emotional funny medium-paced

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

3.5

This was a fun and engaging version of hell! The prose was surprisingly poignant, although a bit flowery at times. My one main issue is that the two story lines felt very disconnected through most of the book, almost being two completely different stories. There were certainly times I really couldn't bring myself to care about the high school drama and wanted to get back to exploring the underworld. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Body shaming, Bullying, Self harm, Suicide, Child abuse, Alcohol, Cursing, Eating disorder, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Torture, Sexism, Grief, Death, and Drug abuse

Minor: Car accident, Child death, Death of parent, and Gun violence

thatswhatshanread's review

challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

It took me SEVEN MONTHS to finish this novel. There are many reasons why:

1. From BOTM’s description and the book’s general marketing, I fully expected this to be a horror/thriller. It was not. It was more just a family drama with a supernatural sort-of twist with half of the book’s POV set in literal Hell.
2. Every time I picked this book up to read it over the last several months, I was bored. The first half of the book seems like it’s going NOWHERE and nothing stuck. The storyline that follows Peyote in Hell seems completely irrelevant to the storyline in present day that follows The Harrison family.
3. But then, it finally picks up. Once I finally pushed myself to get more into it (after almost DNFing many times), something shifted. The stakes changed. Suddenly the Harrison family story is dysfunctional and mysterious and gripping. The Peyote storyline shows potential of intersecting with the other, some interesting twists come about.
4. Still, it’s confusing. I still have no idea how they will connect, just that now Peyote is actually referencing the Harrison family members and their dilemmas. 
5. Peyote and Cal’s plot becomes even more confusing and drawn out. But I’m very intrigued with the POVs from the Harrisons’ side. 
6. I finish the last 250 pages within a couple days. The pacing finally hit a sweet spot for me. The imminent ending seemed promising; everything would finally make sense.
7. Except… it wasn’t? And it didn’t? 

This really felt like two different books in one. In the end, I was still confused, and disappointed in all of that buildup to… what, exactly? I would have rather read about only The Harrisons. But I guess it was entertaining, nonetheless. Something different. Just maybe not the different I wanted it to be. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Blood, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Violence, Cursing, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Suicide, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Confinement, Body shaming, Genocide, Adult/minor relationship, Abortion, Cancer, Child death, Pedophilia, Sexism, and Stalking

emacmillan's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

I enjoyed the themes of family, the perception of trauma, and sexism. The back and forth of the storylines kept me on the edge of my seat. And at the end of the day, I love a book that relishes the complexity of humanity. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pedophilia, Drug abuse, Self harm, Infidelity, Misogyny, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Violence

cheye13's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

3.0

This was an interesting tale. For some reason I wasn't expecting a mystery/thriller element, nor was I expecting how literary in tone this one turned out to be. 

The parallel storylines (in hell and in life) were fascinating but I did ultimately expect something more impressive from their culmination. The primers about how hell works, especially with time, set up a great method for more creatively weaving the two tales together but was entirely underutilized. An interesting story at the time, likely wholly forgettable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Self harm, Child death, and Infidelity

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Bullying, and Gun violence

Minor: Sexual violence, Abandonment, Eating disorder, and Suicide

The book includes a fringe religious cult involving young boys fighting each other to the death. The experience of a girl in foster care is quickly summed up, implying sexual abuse and a mass murder. There is a later attempted premeditated/conspiracy to murder.