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runlaurarun's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
This started slow for me, which is not unusual for a book with a lot of characters, but I ended up plowing through the second half and really enjoyed myself.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Blood, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Police brutality
Minor: Child death
minimicropup's review against another edition
Soft DNF. The writing is staccato film noir gritty style that had me re-reading lines because I thought some other character had been speaking, or I had set the scene wrong in my mind’s eye. Or had no idea what anyone was talking about, tangents and context were dropped in the middle of dialogue etc. Audio would work better for me I think.
The characters are hard to track, we’re thrown in scenes without context.
This is an investment read where I’ll need to accept I’ll have no idea what’s going on if I take too long a break between chapters without keeping notes. I don’t care about any of the characters so all the sex, scandals, and dangerous moments are falling flat for me.
I like the peek behind closed doors into the condos. It reads short-story style that all connect in some way. I wish we had only that without the storyline in between where we are following the developer and Wet investigators.
Captures the vibes of current and a potential not-too-distant future Toronto, I think that’s my main motivation to try again later.
The characters are hard to track, we’re thrown in scenes without context.
This is an investment read where I’ll need to accept I’ll have no idea what’s going on if I take too long a break between chapters without keeping notes. I don’t care about any of the characters so all the sex, scandals, and dangerous moments are falling flat for me.
I like the peek behind closed doors into the condos. It reads short-story style that all connect in some way. I wish we had only that without the storyline in between where we are following the developer and Wet investigators.
Captures the vibes of current and a potential not-too-distant future Toronto, I think that’s my main motivation to try again later.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Sexual content
szyca's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Murder, Death, Death of parent, and Body horror
vixenreader's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
As a Toronto resident, this book hit home.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Genocide, Car accident, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Violence, Medical content, Ableism, Medical trauma, Body horror, Classism, Abandonment, and Infidelity
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Racism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death of parent, and Kidnapping
Minor: Drug use and Terminal illness
Be aware of fungi, viscous dissolving bodies, mould, dysfunctional family relationships, some nudity, poverty, starvation, rich people being horrible, and disassociation.tacochelle's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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
4.0
A neat existential body-horror/dystopia about a distant future Toronto, where rich assholes continue to build towers that physical can't hold up much longer. A sentient mold is spreading under the city and through the plumbing, as we follow a large cast of characters piecing together how it came to be this way. The narrative bouncing around like this slows it down a lot, but no one perspective ruined the story. Watching the pieces come together was beautiful and tragic. I love me some fungal horror, gotta find some more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Death and Classism
Minor: Drug use, Excrement, Gore, Murder, Alcohol, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
tigger89's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This was a novel that had a lot of very interesting ideas in it, but ultimately didn't really do it for me. Starting with the good, I loved the Wet and what it represented. It was creepy, disgusting, and brought the horror whenever it showed up. The reveal of how and why it thrived made sense and worked to drive home the novel's critique of urban development and runaway capitalism. In fact, the concept of this novel combined with the imagery used was so solid that it was very frustrating that it didn't land well for me.
I think the novel's biggest issues had to do with its length, as well as the number and variety of characters. What we have is a medium-length novel(350 pages) packed with a huge cast of recurring characters, as well as many more one-off characters introduced through various vignettes. This meant that I spent most of the novel struggling to remember names and who people were, constantly wondering if so-and-so was important or if we'd never hear from them again. This led to the first two thirds of the book dragging pretty hard, with my opinion somewhat soured by the time the pace picked up for the final push. At the end of the book I felt exhausted more than anything else, which isn't really the emotion you want a good horror novel to end on. I think it would have worked better either trimmed down to be shorter and snappier, or expanded to give everything more room to breathe and develop.
Does the dog die?At one point, a character adopts a coyote-dog-thing. The dog survives to the end of the narrative, but his ultimate fate is unclear.
I think the novel's biggest issues had to do with its length, as well as the number and variety of characters. What we have is a medium-length novel(350 pages) packed with a huge cast of recurring characters, as well as many more one-off characters introduced through various vignettes. This meant that I spent most of the novel struggling to remember names and who people were, constantly wondering if so-and-so was important or if we'd never hear from them again. This led to the first two thirds of the book dragging pretty hard, with my opinion somewhat soured by the time the pace picked up for the final push. At the end of the book I felt exhausted more than anything else, which isn't really the emotion you want a good horror novel to end on. I think it would have worked better either trimmed down to be shorter and snappier, or expanded to give everything more room to breathe and develop.
Does the dog die?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Body horror
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, and Violence
sarah984's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I had fun with this one - a dark story of a future Toronto crumbling under the costs of doing business. I thought it was just a little bit too long (some parts were repetitive) but overall I enjoyed it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Child death, Death, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicide, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Classism, Death of parent, Grief, and Kidnapping
Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Car accident, Gun violence, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Dementia, Excrement, and Sexual harassment
trippyotter's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.0
When I read the blurb, I was immediately intrigued and thought of a dark, sinister version of the slimy goo from Ghostbusters II.
What you'll get is so much more…
Corruption, greed, avoidance, hatred, manipulation, vengeance
All the classics that make a horror story with a unique eco-villain that feeding on psychological "trauma."
Yet, the thriller of the story is lost within the various point-of-views. I eventually lost track, but there's no less than 6 different perspectives and all of their individual interactions. Basically, dozens of people pulled into the story that might not have been needed?
But, I do have to say, I did like Cathy. She reminded me a lot of Anne Heche's character in Volcano ('97).
What you'll get is so much more…
Corruption, greed, avoidance, hatred, manipulation, vengeance
All the classics that make a horror story with a unique eco-villain that feeding on psychological "trauma."
Yet, the thriller of the story is lost within the various point-of-views. I eventually lost track, but there's no less than 6 different perspectives and all of their individual interactions. Basically, dozens of people pulled into the story that might not have been needed?
But, I do have to say, I did like Cathy. She reminded me a lot of Anne Heche's character in Volcano ('97).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
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