Reviews tagging 'Blood'

American Vampire, Vol. 1 by Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque, Stephen King

6 reviews

toadtornado's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

3.0

Felt like I was reading a storyboard pitch as opposed to a fully fleshed out story. Reads like it was meant to be a tv show with random splashes of body horror to spook the watcher. Overall an interesting story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, and Violence

lexihworth's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racial slurs, Animal death, Cannibalism, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Blood, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Self harm, Racism, Body horror, Misogyny, Sexism, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Body horror, and Blood

Minor: Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Racism, Death, Colonisation, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Classism, and Suicide

phillyhufflepunk's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I kept going back and forth on what to rate this book, 3 or 4 stars.

On the one hand, there are instances of period-standard racism; parts of it are set in the Old West and parts in 1920s Los Angeles. There's also a blink-and-you'll-miss-it dubious consent moment, where a young girl manipulates an older man into sleeping with her and it's just an odd addition that didn't seem necessary.

On the other hand, it's a great story that takes the reality of old hollywood (the struggle of young women like Elizabath Short "the Black Dahlia") and turns it into a female empowerment/revenge story with a happy ending. It effortlessly melds supernatural horror and westerns. 

I eventually decided that I'd give it a 4 star.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Violence, Gore, and Death

Minor: Sexual content, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Cursing, Eating disorder, Classism, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Alcohol, Gun violence, Grief, and Animal death

bookishaddictions's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

I’m not a graphic novel person, so I will say upfront that it may have impacted my reading experience. I was not impressed by Volume 1 (Issue 1-5). American Vampire is essentially dedicated to vampires during the Western era; the authors express their goal was to make vampires “scary” again. I found the storyline was underwhelming, but the artwork was cool. I normally love Stephen King, but this just didn’t do it for me. To be fair though, I also do not like Westerns. Check it out (or don’t)- it’s your call on this one 🥴

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Blood, and Gore

philippmk's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? No

4.5

A great read for the spooky season. Albuquerque's art alone enthralls and captures you in its perfectly balanced mix of charm and gore.

One thing I didn't love was the narrative device of using a character in the 'future' who is retelling the entire story (which he captured in a novel that turns out to be true) — it just felt a little played out to me.
 
 

Another thing I didn't need was Abi coercing Jim to sleep with her despite his numerous protests based on their age difference and her being his goddaughter — specifically so that she could have his baby before she had to kill him. I'm not sure if this was simply supposed be a character flaw of hers, but, even though this happens near the end of the book, not enough attention is given to how problematic of an event that is.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Self harm, Gun violence, Murder, and Animal death

Moderate: Sexual assault

inferiorwit's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Excrement, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Minor: Rape