Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu

15 reviews

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Body horror, Racism, Xenophobia, War, Gun violence, Gore, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Grief

Moderate: Genocide, Animal death, Slavery, Bullying, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Child death

Minor: Infidelity, Excrement, Sexual content, Alcohol, Cancer, and Suicide

Surveillance ("The Perfect Match"). Eye trauma/gore, violence against sex workers ("The Regular").

mrmorse910's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Death

Moderate: Suicide, Rape, Murder, and Gore

Minor: Violence

10stormlight's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

Some really conceptually interesting and thought provoking stuff. A collection of very emotional (and sometimes heartrending) stories. Primarily sci fi and magical realism with a heavy historical influence. 

As a warning, there is a ton of *extremely* graphic content in here. In fact, I think this may be the most explicitly graphic book I have ever read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Torture, Violence, Gore, Rape, Suicide, Body horror, Death, Grief, Medical content, Xenophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Racism, Child death, Sexual content, War, Death of parent, Confinement, Gun violence, and Murder

Minor: Terminal illness, Bullying, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, and Racial slurs

josiah17's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective

4.5

This was an incredibly rich, moving, and thought-provoking collection of short stories. Ken Liu has a brilliant mind and has wonderful writing. I found so many stories to be introspective, emotional, human, and very philosophical in an approachable manner. Liu interweaves so many strong and relevant themes into his works. I can't wait to read his long form fiction in The Dandelion Dynasty series. Some of my favorite stories I want to highlight were "The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species," "Good Hunting,"   "The Literomancer," the titular story "The Paper Menagerie," and "An Advanced Readers' Picture Book of Comparative Cognition." 

I highly recommend this collection of short fiction to everyone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Torture

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Rape and Sexual content

blenchbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Genocide, Gore, Suicide, Torture, Medical trauma, Murder, Child death, Hate crime, Medical content, Racism, Rape, Forced institutionalization, and War

ruthhelizabeth's review against another edition

challenging dark informative medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, Racial slurs, Murder, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Gore, Confinement, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Pregnancy, Genocide, Kidnapping, Hate crime, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, Blood, War, Torture, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Suicide

kalira's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Ken Lie has a brilliant approach to weaving together history and realism with fantastical/speculative fiction elements, drawing it all into poignant and deeply emotional relief.

It took me a long time to read this anthology, largely because the stories are very good . . . and sometimes, so painful and heavy and immediate that upon finishing I needed to set the book aside and take some time. Both to process the story and to give myself a little emotional space to breathe.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Genocide, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Child death, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Gore, Trafficking, Vomit, Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Death, War, Alcohol, Colonisation, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Chronic illness, and Grief

konfx's review against another edition

challenging inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Stalking, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Torture, Gore, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Genocide, Grief, Murder, and Racism

lookingforlittlelibraries's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Body horror, Medical trauma, Gore, Grief, Racism, Rape, Violence, and War

Moderate: Racial slurs, Colonisation, and Cultural appropriation

heidipolkissa82's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Torture, Genocide, Physical abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, War, Blood, and Colonisation