Reviews

Bound in Flesh is a collection of 13 body horror stories by trans* writers, each with a unique theme and characters, and it's actually one of the highlights of the anthology, because even after reading half of them, I found myself enjoying the unpredictable nature of the stories. What's going to happen in the next one? No one can guess, based on the themes of the previous piece, because the stories chosen were widely spread across the horror genre.
The anthology managed to make my skin crawl with its gore. And I loved how each story presented a different type of body horror.

I enjoyed all of the stories, and even though some of them weren't as satisfying as others, especially in the way the plot was paced, I have to say that my time reading this book could definitely be described as great, and even fun at some points. Each of the authors had a very pleasant style of writing, and the prose was really beautiful.

My favourite stories from this anthology are Lady Davelina's Last Pet by Charles-Elizabeth Boyle, Long Fingers by Layne Van Rensburg, Show Me by Amanda M. Blake and Man of The House by Lilian Boyd. But, as I said, all of the stories have interesting plots with compelling characters, and I thought it was a really good anthology.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

laurel00's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

This. This is why I love the horror genre. This is why I never shut up about it. This is what the craft is all about.

I'm so ridiculously obsessed with this anthology. I don't ever reread books really, because I always have a million more things to pick up instead. But I know for a fact that as soon as I receive my physical copy, I'm getting right back into it.

There is so much depth to every single one of these stories. Specific passages or scenes or general ideas that relate so beautifully and horrifyingly to the trans and queer experience: my mind was racing the entire time trying to pick up on every single metaphor, all the allegories and the symbolism. There is so much that I could say about every story in this collection and I know that every time I reread them I will have even more to gush about.

It was disgusting, it was terrifying, it was heartbreaking, it was beautiful. The reason it took me 2 weeks to finish this book was that every time I would finish a story, I would have to set it down and just stare into the void, mouth agape, trying to process what I had just read. I mean, it is truly a bone chilling and nausea inducing collection and I loved it with every inch of my being.

I really cannot recommend this enough. I admit that it might be a bit much for someone who has never read horror or isn't a big fan of the genre. Even I needed 3-4 business days between some of these stories just to absorb what had happened. But if you're a horror buff like me, then you 10000% need to pick this up, it is so incredibly worth it.

sdsmith80's review against another edition

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

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

5.0

Usually collections and anthologies take me longer to read, but I whipped through this one in less than a day. The stories range from gross to heartbreaking, with a wide range in-between.

The first story does a great job of setting the tone and greatly reminded me of a certain Soska Sisters film that's a personal favorite of mine, and it's definitely the entry I enjoyed the most, for that reason.

Other tales I would love to see adapted, especially Mama Was a Butcher, and Man of the House. I could picture them vividly and it would be great to see what they become onscreen.

In the Garden of Horn, The Naked Magic Thrives is another beautiful story from Hailey Piper, and oh, I want to know more! I want to see what happens next!

I don't think I can say much more without giving spoilers, which I really don't want to do. What I can say is if you're a fan of body horror, you need to check this out!

Content Warnings

fiendfull's review against another edition

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5.0

Bound in Flesh is a trans horror anthology that brings together thirteen body horror stories to explore the extreme limits of flesh, gender, and humanity. From people exploring their desires, as weird and body horrific as they might be, to those just looking to exist in a body, there's a huge amount of variety in the stories in this anthology, despite the fairly niche theme of trans body horror, both in terms of plots and general vibes.

The opening story, 'Wormspace' by LC von Hessen, is a great way to set the tone, delving into weird desires and changing your body (and has a fantastic ending). One of my favourite stories in the collection is 'The Haunting of Aiden Finch' by Theo Hendrie, due to the way it uses the format of transition-charting videos to tell a horror story, one which is perhaps more slow burn and ominous than others in the book and with some creepypasta vibes. 'Mama Is A Butcher' by Winter Holmes takes a story of acceptance with a Frankenstein-type theme and makes it a friendship story, with the sort of lingering ending that you want from good body horror where the image feels seared into your head.

Though not all of them jumped out at me quite as much, there weren't any stories that I didn't like in the collection or any that I found too hard to get into. There's some really great, twisted ways in which the stories use body horror as a lens to consider transness, for example if you are forcibly shape-shifted into the wrong gender, but also stories like the closing piece, 'Looking For The Big Death' by Taliesin Neith, in which the body becomes a different kind of place, something to desire death but also, it seems, resist it, and being trans is just a part of that complexity.

Trans horror is one of the best kinds of horror (of course) and this anthology shows some of the wealth of options for using trans writers using body horror as a way to tell stories, whether directly or not about being trans. There's lots for body horror fans and lots for trans horror fans, and plenty to wince at in general.

mxbluet18's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

Trigger warnings for Bound in Flesh include: profanity, sex, violence, death, suicide, abuse, and blood & gore.
☆
☆
I enjoy having trans and queer representation in the stories I read. However, I don't think this flavour of trans rep is for me. I like some horror tropes, and I can deal with a low level of gore and violence, but this wasn't for me.
~
Even though the subject matter wasn't to my taste, I did like the fact that it was centered on trans people, which having read the foreword, I know was the intent. I appreciate that authors are striving to put forward a diverse range of genres with queer representation outside of the standard.
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Thank you to BookSirens for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

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