Reviews tagging 'Death'

Milk Blood Heat by Dantiel W. Moniz

25 reviews

jayisreading's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

This was a fresh collection of short stories that hones in on the everyday lives of Black women (primarily) in Florida and, often, the way they are viewed by society. The protagonist of each story essentially have to reckon with a traumatic event that occurred at some point in their life (or is dealing with at the moment), and Moniz explores this unflinchingly though also with some grace. She dives into uncomfortable territory when it comes to the topics she covers: infidelity, sexual assault, pregnancy/miscarriage, among others. For the most part, I wouldn’t say that these stories are gruesome, but none of them are particularly easy to digest either as she peels away the layers of these women to reveal something deeply complex.

I found the title of this collection particularly interesting and, very cleverly, Moniz interprets at least one of those three words in some fashion within each story. I think “blood” jumped out at me the most, but that might be because this was more visceral than the others, especially in the final story (which was probably my favorite). Relatedly, Moniz is an excellent writer and really has a way with words to draw a reaction out of you. I think despite feeling lukewarm about some of these stories, I was taken to all of them because of her writing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: Cannibalism and Infidelity

samantharosejohnson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Grief, Death, and Child death

Minor: Sexism

groovywitch's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

sanuye's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? Yes

4.5

A series of short stories that range from intensely dark in a truly horribly real way, to the somewhat hopeful. I really liked it but I wouldn't recommend it if the pandemic has left you too drained for some dark shit

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Cannibalism and Death

Minor: Child abuse and Incest

bookscoffeehayley's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

CW: miscarriage, death of a child, suicide, suicidal thoughts, death of a parent, sexual assault, child abuse

After I finished ‘The Office of Historical Corrections’ (and loved it) I asked the internet what other short story recommendations they had. Milk Blood Heat by Dantiel W. Moniz was the most recommended collection so I immediately put a hold into my local library.

This is a fairly short collection, 11 stories coming in at just under 200 pages. But while this is shorter, it took me a bit to read. I wanted to stay with these stories. I couldn’t read them back to back. I had to pause after each story and sit with it.

These stories focus on an array of topics including familial relationships and traumas, identity, infidelity, miscarriage, healing, love. These stories end leaving you wanting more but in the best way possible.

I can’t recommend this short story collection enough. I tandem read this with the audiobook and also would recommend the audio version! I’m excited to see what Dantiel W. Moniz releases next!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Child death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Child abuse, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual assault

sarahlovesbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book of short stories was beautifully written. Some lines just made me take a breath and read again to capture and really process them. The style kind of reminded me of Her Body and Other Parties, but the characters' struggles and flaws were more human than fantasy. Almost like Humans of my New York.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Child death

laurenmcnamara's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, Blood, Miscarriage, and Child death

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual violence, Child abuse, and Sexual content

Minor: Death of parent and Suicidal thoughts

keatynbergsten's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

I loved every story in this collection and they all really felt like they belonged in the same collection.  One of the best short story collections I’ve read in a long time.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Cancer, Racism, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

readgramrepeat's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

3.75

I listened to Milk Blood Heat on audio and wow...Don’t let the vibrant cover fool you, there is a darkness to this book. (Check content warnings before you even read the first story.) 

I’m still trying to process my thoughts on all the stories, but none were a miss for me. Milk, blood, and heat are a theme in the collection with stories about children, motherhood, blood pacts, death, and love in Florida.

It’s funny that Lauren Groff, author of Florida, has a blurb on the cover because I was thinking I liked this collection more than her collection about The Sunshine State.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Cancer, Death, and Miscarriage

kerrygetsliterary's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Sexual assault, Grief, Death, and Death of parent