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vigil's reviews
189 reviews
Chainsaw Man, Vol. 1 by Tatsuki Fujimoto
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
4.0
this book has its audience most certainly, but i do not think it is the audience that the book is marketed towards. the "horror" is not necessarily horror, aside from a handful of scenes, largely relegated to leah's pov chapters. this book is mostly literary, and its immediately evident from the writing style, and themes. it is a book heavily concerned with loss, losing others, yourself, your faculties, your relationship, and previous way of life. i think in some ways in relied on themes too much, nearly to the extent that a reader may be writing the book for her in their imagination. it is not plot driven, or particularly well explained, preferring to leave the reader in the dark as much as the characters. frankly, i think this book could’ve been a bit longer, especially concerning the final pages of miri’s pov, which i think would’ve benefited from it somewhat.
there are moments of genuine arguable horror, but this is not a horror book. it does not concern itself with the horror genre, instead leaning towards dissecting the human psyche. this is not a happy story, and does not have happy ending, but with the tale the author set up, i truly don't think it could've ended any other way.
there are moments of genuine arguable horror, but this is not a horror book. it does not concern itself with the horror genre, instead leaning towards dissecting the human psyche. this is not a happy story, and does not have happy ending, but with the tale the author set up, i truly don't think it could've ended any other way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Berserk, Vol. 1 by Kentaro Miura
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
i don't have much to say because nothing happened. it seemed like there would be a plot or character building at the start, but it didn't last long. honestly, its just 224 pages of guts killing with no rhyme or reason. which i don't inherently have an issue with aside from the fact that its ALL there is. you are thrown into seperate portions of (nicely illustrated, at least) panels of guts slaughtering things. sometimes it is broken up by him being a general asshole (which i have no issue with, but assholery does not a character make.) to the elf or anyone who's had the misfortune of being in his presence. it starts to pick up at hinting at a plot in the final couple pages, but it didn't give enough of anything for me to care about it in the content prior.
i might pick up later volumes in the future, as i have been told it gets better as it goes on, but it honestly didn't give me a reason to care about that either.
i might pick up later volumes in the future, as i have been told it gets better as it goes on, but it honestly didn't give me a reason to care about that either.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder
The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún Vol. 7 by Nagabe
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping
The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún Vol. 5 by Nagabe
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent
Call Me Cassandra by Marcial Gala
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
on an objective level, this is an amazing book. it is well crafted, accomplishes precisely what it set out to do, along with great prose. if anyone asked me about it, i'd readily recommend it.
however, i didn't connect with it like i thought i would. i think it's either the nature of the translation, or of raul's point of view. the book is best described as surreal, keeping you in a quiet haze of introspection and reminiscence, undercut by a swift undercurrent of moments of brutality. part of the hazy quality of the book is the way marcial gala seamlessly transitions between past, present, and future in both subtle and piercing ways. the brutality of this stood out, as well as the occasional moments of sharp emotion from raul, but the haze (the majority of the book) did not especially.
it's hard to put my finger on what exactly would have made the book better for me, but i do think it should've been longer, and perhaps having a different translator / translation style.
this book is filled with triggers, heed all warnings.
however, i didn't connect with it like i thought i would. i think it's either the nature of the translation, or of raul's point of view. the book is best described as surreal, keeping you in a quiet haze of introspection and reminiscence, undercut by a swift undercurrent of moments of brutality. part of the hazy quality of the book is the way marcial gala seamlessly transitions between past, present, and future in both subtle and piercing ways. the brutality of this stood out, as well as the occasional moments of sharp emotion from raul, but the haze (the majority of the book) did not especially.
it's hard to put my finger on what exactly would have made the book better for me, but i do think it should've been longer, and perhaps having a different translator / translation style.
this book is filled with triggers, heed all warnings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún Vol. 6 by Nagabe
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death by Caitlin Doughty
dark
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
this didn’t land with me as much as her other two books, (likely due to its aim towards a younger audience) but i enjoyed it just the same. i think taking a look at the table of contents (thank you for having one, my god) will be able to help you figure out if the book is for you.
it features very graphic descriptions about death, corpses, and decomposition, but i figure you wouldn’t have picked this up for any other reason.
it features very graphic descriptions about death, corpses, and decomposition, but i figure you wouldn’t have picked this up for any other reason.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 3 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
i actively disliked reading 45-50% of this book.
i’ve narrowed down my main issue with tgcf. it feels like, and practically written like multiple different stories, yet the author tries to cram them into one while they go down kicking and screaming, yet can’t truly make either side satisfying enough. mxtx has good ideas and excellent character work, but ideas aren’t enough, especially when they’re drawn out too long, or not long enough. this book is trying to a mix of plot driven and character driven, but the plot is too shaky in its execution that it had to carried by the characters in an unnatural manner, as this wasn’t meant to happen occur in the first place.
that’s why, for me, once we reach the second half, some of the romance between hualian rings hollow, like the author is making up for everything she didn’t do in the first half.i liked the kiss, (seriously. more of them please.) but it really felt like “sorry i put you through that agonizingly long flashback arc, here’s a kiss!”
and the first half is just simply not intriguing enough for me. any vague interest i had in xie lian’s past was immediately dashed once i had to read 200+ of the longest pages in my life about it. not because it was sad, because it was a drag to get through.
the side characters in this are more prominent but we still have next to zero for the mains aside from xie lian. and no, hua cheng’s tragic backstory as hong-er does not suddenly make him into a fully realized character. he’s just a guy we barely know with a sad life! get in line!
this just. really needed an editor. i dread to think what the extra 100k words that are planning to be added will be like in a novel that is already bloated and overwritten.
i’ve narrowed down my main issue with tgcf. it feels like, and practically written like multiple different stories, yet the author tries to cram them into one while they go down kicking and screaming, yet can’t truly make either side satisfying enough. mxtx has good ideas and excellent character work, but ideas aren’t enough, especially when they’re drawn out too long, or not long enough. this book is trying to a mix of plot driven and character driven, but the plot is too shaky in its execution that it had to carried by the characters in an unnatural manner, as this wasn’t meant to happen occur in the first place.
that’s why, for me, once we reach the second half, some of the romance between hualian rings hollow, like the author is making up for everything she didn’t do in the first half.
and the first half is just simply not intriguing enough for me. any vague interest i had in xie lian’s past was immediately dashed once i had to read 200+ of the longest pages in my life about it. not because it was sad, because it was a drag to get through.
the side characters in this are more prominent but we still have next to zero for the mains aside from xie lian.
this just. really needed an editor. i dread to think what the extra 100k words that are planning to be added will be like in a novel that is already bloated and overwritten.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún Vol. 4 by Nagabe
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Xenophobia, Blood, Dementia, Death of parent, and Abandonment