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fran's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, Murder, and War
Moderate: Animal death, Misogyny, and Rape
Minor: Child abuse and Abortion
naomidanae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I wasn't expecting sexual explicitness in this novella, and I do think those scenes have a place, but the juxtaposition of that with everything else that happens in the book is a bit off-putting. Being a survivor of sexual assault is not incongruous with still having desire by any means, but these scenes happened so quickly and suddenly that I wondered if they could have been handled a little more carefully or with a bit more nuance instead.
Some quotes:
"The forest whispered around him with a thousand holy mouths. As Woolf had written, Everything, in fact, was something else."
"He'd been a raw-blooded young thing once, and he understood the sweetness—the genuine security—of revenge. He even understood the desire to keep one's hometown, but the thing was, he also understood how dangerous Stevie's path of resistance would be. Sometimes survival meant ripping loose those domestic roots."
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
acrosstheskyinstars's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Lesbophobia, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail
margaret's review
5.0
Lee Mandelo said is anyone going to find homoeroticism in the monstrous and then didn't wait for an answer
so like. THE WOODS ALL BLACK is basically a perfect novella?? and I don't know what to do with myself now that I've read it??
the story follows Leslie Bruin, a nurse traveling to a small town in 1927 Appalachia to administer vaccinations and health care. viewed as a woman, he is greeted with hostility by the townspeople who consider any deviation from the norm to be dangerous. throughout the 160 or so pages, an eerie, unsettling atmosphere underpins a story that asks: who are the true monsters - the ones who dare to live as themselves, or the ones who would force them back into the boxes prescribed upon them since birth?
this book has so much to say about queerness and transness, intolerance and complicity, justice and revenge. it breaks apart every expectation I had going in. I personally love when queer historical books allow their characters to be undefinable by modern standards, because even today's labels of gender and sexuality are imperfect and limiting.
I can't tell you how many times I screamed aloud while reading this, and after I finished I had to pace around my apartment for ten minutes. it was horrifying and sickening and satisfying and cathartic; I wanted to burst with how much I loved it and how awful (complimentary) it was. plus, lee mandelo's writing is SO gorgeous. this cements him as a favorite author for me, and this as one of my new favorite novellas.
Graphic: Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Transphobia, Blood, and Medical content
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, and Dysphoria