Scan barcode
A review by tysbooks
The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
2.0
Well, this was not one of my better picks for BOTM. So this follows Mario who has come into a lot a debt because of medical bills due to his young daughter's diagnosis with leukemia. He decides to go on a job with a friend to rob a drug cartel with the hopes of bringing home a lump sum of cash, but everything doesn't go as planned.
In the beginning I really felt for our main character Mario as he describes the difficulty of taking care of a sick child, the effects it had on his family financially and how it slowly deteriorated his marriage. It made me feel sympathetic to his choice of a life of crime however, stealing from a drug cartel is a huge leap and a little unbelievable when we were never told he had ever done anything to this level of crime before. This book was also marketed as 'horror' when I didn't find anything in this be considered horror. There were a few supernatural elements in there that I was hoping could have been explored more, but that was about it. The author did do a good job with incorporating the conversation around racism and the stereotypes the Hispanic community faces and weaves it through the story nicely. I do think the story was very predictable and I wasn't surprised by anything that happened at the end, but maybe that comes from watching tons of crime thriller movies. I think if you want a moderately paced suspenseful thriller this will work for you, but if you were expecting more horror like I was then this might not work.
In the beginning I really felt for our main character Mario as he describes the difficulty of taking care of a sick child, the effects it had on his family financially and how it slowly deteriorated his marriage. It made me feel sympathetic to his choice of a life of crime however, stealing from a drug cartel is a huge leap and a little unbelievable when we were never told he had ever done anything to this level of crime before. This book was also marketed as 'horror' when I didn't find anything in this be considered horror. There were a few supernatural elements in there that I was hoping could have been explored more, but that was about it. The author did do a good job with incorporating the conversation around racism and the stereotypes the Hispanic community faces and weaves it through the story nicely. I do think the story was very predictable and I wasn't surprised by anything that happened at the end, but maybe that comes from watching tons of crime thriller movies. I think if you want a moderately paced suspenseful thriller this will work for you, but if you were expecting more horror like I was then this might not work.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Racism, Child death, and Gun violence