I liked how this was written. Despite all the difficult words used, I found it easy to picture what was being described.

However, I had no idea what was going on the whole time.

trs01's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

2.75

readerbot_lu's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-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

Did I like it? Yes
Do I recommend it? No (due to high amount of graphic content)

Favorite Quote

“I don’t care.”
“I understand.”
“But you do. Which, unfortunately, makes all the difference.” (57)

Positives

I really loved the queer-platonic relationship depicted between the plague doctor and the main character as they travel together. Both characters have characteristics that root them individually in queerness, but I loved seeing how they interacted.

The main character’s arc was also really cool. She is loosely based on the Little Mermaid, but with far different circumstances. Her husband denies her non-humanness and tries to make her fit into human society (playing the role of a cishet woman), while fundamentally and violently misunderstanding her. But she is non-human and a lot of the story is about her reclaiming that “monstrosity”. But this arc doesn’t negate the connection she and the plague doctor share as they are able to be companions as their true selves.

Also, I found this novella properly eerie and frankly gross at times, in regards to the central plot.

Negatives

While I understand that including more of how the main characters’ relationship grew at the beginning of the story might add more of an implied romantic framework (which doesn’t suit the story), I did want a bit more background on how they got to where they were. There is a short story appended to the novella which provides more context, but just a little more info at the beginning would’ve been nice.

The two main characters set off with a vague goal in mind but then seem to get sidetracked. But getting sidetracked is actually the main plot. This gave me a bit of whiplash as the reader.

Just a heads up, there is so much cannibalism and medical gore/violence (honestly, the medical stuff seems to be a characteristic feature of the author’s works I’ve read) that I wouldn’t say I can recommend this story to anyone, despite enjoying it.

brynnfai's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

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

3.0

I liked the ended ending a lot and it was a very fresh book with beautiful prose though addmitedly a bit hard to follow at times. I had to read it out loud to fully understand what I was reading a lot of the time.

Content Warnings

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