Reviews with content warning for Torture - Δάκρυα Ξυράφι

I’d give this more than five stars if I could. It was so good, so riveting, so compelling, in every sentence, from beginning to end.

The story is about two guilty homophobic men struggling to atone for their meanness and neglect in the way they raised their sons. The sons were married to each other, the parents refused to attend the wedding, and within a few months the sons had been murdered, leaving behind more grief than you can imagine. The fathers, both being violent but reformed ex-cons, and realizing the error of their homophobic ways, take on the task of finding the killers and exacting vengeance.

It’s a violent, vibrant thriller of grief and love, beautifully written, taut, emotional, and meaningful. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Content Warnings

crystal689's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-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

0.5

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podanotherjessi's review against another edition

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tense slow-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? Yes

3.5

I can't help but feel like I'm just not the right audience for this book. I liked the themes, but the author makes sure to spell each one of them out for you, so there's no thought really required from the reader. It was also just so violent, and I at no point thought the actions of the main characters were justified or appropriate.
That said, the characters were really well written. They started out feeling to me a little bit like like caricatures, but they really gain nuance as the book goes on. And I was crying at the end, so I guess I was more attached than I thought.

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bscarlin's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

This was a compelling book I couldn’t put down but the level of violence is not for the faint of heart.

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hunterp's review against another edition

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dark

3.75

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fossilizedtreesaps's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

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naviajack's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

3.0

The beginning of this book was frustrating. I strongly disliked the characters. I was going to give this book 2 starts but the second half redeemed it. The characters are selfish, thick headed, and cocky. The trauma they put everyone through around them is unnecessary only because of their hyper toxic masculinity. They cause so much more trouble than they are worth.

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