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therearenobadbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
I am recommending this one for horror readers during pride this year and next
It's a very honest, in-your-face, and provocative YA explicit novel.
These LGBTQIA teens getting kidnapped with their parent's consent to be taken to a camp to be "fixed" sounds very realistic then it's balanced by their lack of confidence, inner torment, and whatever supernatural bizarre thing happening in that camp.
The lack of acceptance from their family, the disrespect from peers and the social pressure ad a level of tension, humanity, and instinct of survival to each one of these teens. Still, they can find ways to get relief, express emotions, and take care of each other.
This is my first contact with this author's work.
I recommend it to YA plus readers, a great horror novel that reminds me of the classic novel Holes but for adults. It takes a moment to know well who is who, but we get insight into each one's struggles and personality as we go.
For readers who like explicit novels and eerie almost gore.
Thank you netgalley and publisher for the audio.
hfrancesh's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Transphobia, and Violence
romethegreenwood's review
4.25
The more I turn this over in my head the better I think it is. I was soooo glad to not be one of the people who visualises when they read because the descriptions of the monster were vile (positive). Thinking about how the horror of conversion therapy IS that the true self is replaced with someone else that isn’t you.
During the second COVID semester, we had this assignment where we had to talk about our feelings during the pandemic and how the literature in the class we were taking related to that (300 level class too absolutely ridiculous scenes) anyways everyone else wrote about how sad and stressed they were and I wrote about being absolutely livid and ticked off at the government. And as I’m typing this, I’m thinking about how I’m still angry, at all the ways that people in power fail marginalised people. My politics are built out of compassion, but there’s also a frustration at the absolute state of the world, at complicity and stagnance and how the few people with the ability to change lives that we literally pay to represent us refuse to prioritise humanity. That’s the kind of anger that Felker-Martin writes with. This is a love letter to queer community punctuated with a furiousness towards the fact that it has to be said. Boiling in the desert out with the campers is a rage that refuses to be silenced. Thought provoking and powerful.
I did think seven POVs was ambitious - Felker-Martin definitely saw criticisms of Manhunt jumping too quickly from one character to another and went fuck off I’m doing what I want. And I think here it actually works quite well. There’s such a well-balanced range of teens, struggling with gender and fatphobia in addition to sexuality, and how all three of these things mesh so beautifully.
The only complaint I have is the graphic sex between teenagers. I understand theoretically teens do in fact have sex more often than not however it does make me feel like a voyeur and a creep to read about it in such detail, but maybe that's a me thing.
Professional review over now I’m saying for me people in the comments going who is Lara you are so dumb <3 a (thus-far) guy character goes oh im a girl and like two pages later lara appears gee i wonder where she came from. open the schools!
During the second COVID semester, we had this assignment where we had to talk about our feelings during the pandemic and how the literature in the class we were taking related to that (300 level class too absolutely ridiculous scenes) anyways everyone else wrote about how sad and stressed they were and I wrote about being absolutely livid and ticked off at the government. And as I’m typing this, I’m thinking about how I’m still angry, at all the ways that people in power fail marginalised people. My politics are built out of compassion, but there’s also a frustration at the absolute state of the world, at complicity and stagnance and how the few people with the ability to change lives that we literally pay to represent us refuse to prioritise humanity. That’s the kind of anger that Felker-Martin writes with. This is a love letter to queer community punctuated with a furiousness towards the fact that it has to be said. Boiling in the desert out with the campers is a rage that refuses to be silenced. Thought provoking and powerful.
I did think seven POVs was ambitious - Felker-Martin definitely saw criticisms of Manhunt jumping too quickly from one character to another and went fuck off I’m doing what I want. And I think here it actually works quite well. There’s such a well-balanced range of teens, struggling with gender and fatphobia in addition to sexuality, and how all three of these things mesh so beautifully.
The only complaint I have is the graphic sex between teenagers. I understand theoretically teens do in fact have sex more often than not however it does make me feel like a voyeur and a creep to read about it in such detail, but maybe that's a me thing.
Professional review over now I’m saying for me people in the comments going who is Lara you are so dumb <3 a (thus-far) guy character goes oh im a girl and like two pages later lara appears gee i wonder where she came from. open the schools!
oscarmilde's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
IT for wayward transsexuals.
this is everything i wanted from CAMP DAMASCUS but didn't get. filthy, horrifying, tense, and so, so real. i know these people. i love these people. high stakes, high octane, high on ketamine.
there's a little bit of repetitive prose in this one that didn't always read as intentional, but by and large is beautiful and disgusting. can't recommend enough.
this is everything i wanted from CAMP DAMASCUS but didn't get. filthy, horrifying, tense, and so, so real. i know these people. i love these people. high stakes, high octane, high on ketamine.
there's a little bit of repetitive prose in this one that didn't always read as intentional, but by and large is beautiful and disgusting. can't recommend enough.
laneyvonhall's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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
3.0
ellarroz's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Vomit, Homophobia, Gore, Eating disorder, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Rape, Blood, Suicide attempt, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia
mrdcoolblue's review against another edition
It was generally well-written, but the subject matter is too miserable for me and hits several of my content no’s
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Transphobia, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Deadnaming, Racism, and Body shaming
shrikebait's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Cuckoo is a love letter to queer resistance.
Felker-Martin explores so many diverse, distinct, and developed characters while maintaining an easy-to-follow central narrative. I especially loved the unflinching examination of gender dysphoria and body dysmorphia as these kids battle both internal and external demons.
There is so much packed into these pages that I thought the book was longer than it actually is...in a good way. I found the details immersive and delighted when they pay off.
I'm grateful to Tor Nightfire for the chance to check this ARC out for free. I'm leaving this review of my own accord.
Felker-Martin explores so many diverse, distinct, and developed characters while maintaining an easy-to-follow central narrative. I especially loved the unflinching examination of gender dysphoria and body dysmorphia as these kids battle both internal and external demons.
There is so much packed into these pages that I thought the book was longer than it actually is...in a good way. I found the details immersive and delighted when they pay off.
I'm grateful to Tor Nightfire for the chance to check this ARC out for free. I'm leaving this review of my own accord.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Mass/school shootings, Outing, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Lesbophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Death, Excrement, Fatphobia, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cannibalism, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Biphobia, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Cursing, Eating disorder, Incest, Racial slurs, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Transphobia, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Cancer, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Car accident, Confinement, and Rape
Minor: Islamophobia and Terminal illness
taylorhathcock's review against another edition
2.0
Okay so this one is going to be a short review. I felt like this book took me forever to get through. In part that's because most of it made absolutely no sense at all. I think the author should have done some time setting up what was happening in a better way. The prologue did nothing but cause me to be confused because it had nothing to do with the main characters and just seemed like a cheap way to do something "scary." The "monster" or whatever it is really doesn't ever get explained in a clear way. The book is so focused on sexual innuendos that so much else gets lost. I think the book would have worked better if we had a clear break in character's perspectives instead of trying to follow all these different characters in one chapter. The number of characters made it hard to keep track of who was who. I love that the book was so focused on a vast range of the LGBTQ+ community but honestly that is the only thing that it had going for it. In the end for me this book just felt like a terrible imitation of It. I have no intention of reading it again... mainly because I still have no idea what it was even about.
bloomandgloomco's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
A truly nasty (in the best way!) body horror revolving around a group of LGBTQIA+ teens trying to survive a conversion camp in the middle of the desert.
The horror was done exceptionally well, I am not often grossed out by books but this one got me more than a few times.
On that note- I wasn’t always grossed out in a good way.
The following knocked my review down to 3 stars:
- Rampant fatphobia. At first I assumed this was intentional and would serve some kind of purpose, but ultimately I think it was unnecessarily cruel for really no reason.
- Way too horny. There is so. much. sex. happening all of the time in this book.
I actually laughed out loud a couple of times because it was so ridiculous. If the characters weren’t boning eachother, they were thinking about it in unnecessarily graphic detail. Remember- the characters are all teenage kids and are literally fighting to survive. Love finds a way I guess? I was just a lil grossed out…if you don’t want to read about a bunch of kids getting freaky (also always when they’re on their periods, for some reason?!) maybe skip this one.
I also found the large cast of characters difficult to keep up with; jumping between POV’s and past/future timelines I was often confused who’s who and what was going on.
The horror is horroring here, but I think a bit more editing and a lot less boinking would’ve helped make it a more enjoyable read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for the ARC!
The horror was done exceptionally well, I am not often grossed out by books but this one got me more than a few times.
On that note- I wasn’t always grossed out in a good way.
The following knocked my review down to 3 stars:
- Rampant fatphobia. At first I assumed this was intentional and would serve some kind of purpose, but ultimately I think it was unnecessarily cruel for really no reason.
- Way too horny. There is so. much. sex. happening all of the time in this book.
I actually laughed out loud a couple of times because it was so ridiculous. If the characters weren’t boning eachother, they were thinking about it in unnecessarily graphic detail. Remember- the characters are all teenage kids and are literally fighting to survive. Love finds a way I guess? I was just a lil grossed out…if you don’t want to read about a bunch of kids getting freaky (also always when they’re on their periods, for some reason?!) maybe skip this one.
I also found the large cast of characters difficult to keep up with; jumping between POV’s and past/future timelines I was often confused who’s who and what was going on.
The horror is horroring here, but I think a bit more editing and a lot less boinking would’ve helped make it a more enjoyable read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for the ARC!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Misogyny, Fatphobia, Child abuse, Transphobia, Gore, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Religious bigotry