Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Strange Weather: Four Short Novels by Joe Hill

6 reviews

lancemama's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Cancer, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Violence, War, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Body horror, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Murder, Xenophobia, and Grief

delaneybull's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

With the hard exception of Aloft I found the worlds really engaging and the characters interesting and complex. Loaded was A LOT and definitely the one that lingers for me. Short story is a good format for Joe Hill.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Confinement, Violence, Blood, Animal death, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Misogyny, Gun violence, Grief, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Police brutality, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts

steveatwaywords's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.0

I like Joe Hill's horror for its earnestness and earthy modern headspace. His protagonists are largely losers who have no guarantees to emerge from injustice or horror successfully. Hill has few qualms about making anyone suffer quickly, horribly, often without warning. At his best, the supernatural horrors they encounter merge in challenging parallels to the cultural politics we inhabit. Other times his stories are settled plots probable and tense. 

Strange weather is strong for its four tightly-plotted works, weaker for its thoughtful ties between the natural and supernatural. His characters sometimes emerge with needful growth, but sometimes they just emerge. This is realistic, but--as too often with his works--not as satisfying to a reader. It forces readers to find the joy of the tale elsewhere, and here--because the stories are so brief--there is too little time to allow the terror to fully develop. 

Most unsettling for me was the work "Loaded," which is better described as political horror than supernatural. "Aloft" and "Rain" do better in character development, though the conceit of the horror premise is too obscure or too neat. Short fiction is hard, and maybe Hill requires more space to flesh out his stories suitably (i.e. Horns or Heart-Shaped Box or The Fireman). So while this read was satisfying, each story left me wanting more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Violence, Child death, Grief, Dementia, Body shaming, Blood, Animal death, Xenophobia, Racism, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Murder, Mental illness, Mass/school shootings, Homophobia, and Cursing

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Death of parent, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Grief, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Car accident, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Child death, Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, War, Police brutality, Racism, Religious bigotry, Stalking, and Suicidal thoughts

mondovertigo's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Lesbophobia, Dementia, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Stalking, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Alcoholism, and Suicide

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Addiction and Car accident

dale1997's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Mental illness