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corabookworm's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.0
I honestly thought this book was 5-star worthy for the most part. The writing was fantastic, the historical elements interesting but not boring, the story fast paced, and the plot intriguing. The explicit sex scenes threw me off and, due to personal preference, lowered the rating of the book to 3 stars. But otherwise I really liked it! If you're looking for short, queer horror with elements of religion, romance, monsters, and history, this one's pretty damn good!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, and Murder
Moderate: Homophobia, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement, Rape, and Sexual assault
Sexual assault is referenced/implied multiple times but never shown on page. There are pretty explicit sex scenes, so if that kind of stuff makes you uncomfortable, skip these parts:fairytalefootnotes's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.0
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Writing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Tropes, etc: Small Town, Place Personified, Religious Persecution, Revenge, Transgender MC, Transgender Love Interest
3rd Act Breakup?: No
The Praise: This book gave an interesting glimpse into the experience of a transgender man in the 1920s and paired that with eerie horror and sweet romance. It was well-written and I really loved the ending!
The Critique: I would’ve liked to know more about Spar Creek and its whole deal.
Final Thoughts: This wasn’t my typical kind of read but I really enjoyed it! Especially the ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Deadnaming, Death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Transphobia, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Rape, Abortion, and Pregnancy
bee_likes_books's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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? No
2.25
I wanted to love this book, and I was so into it for the first 2/3rds that I felt outright betrayed when the THIRTY YEAR OLD WORLD-WISE VETERAN hooks up with the TEENAGER THAT CAN’T READ. The power dynamic was gross! And, yes, the teenager CAN turn into a terrible forest monster… in that specific forest. Which Leslie takes him away from. It ends with the two having soda floats while Stevie looks around in wonder at normal city things. Leslie (after flirting with someone else in front of Stevie) is like, “there’s a bookstore you might like!” And when Stevie is both slightly saddened by the open flirtation and reminds the main character that he can’t read (with can’t coming out like “cain’t” in a ‘cute childish way’) the MC is just like eh I’ll teach you how. It read like it was supposed to be romantic and aspirational but candidly it felt really gross to me. . The author didn’t shy away from giving the main character an aversion to the racism or eugenics of the time, so it wasn’t an attempt to be true to the time period either.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Confinement, Racism, Rape, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Pregnancy, and War
Minor: Abortion
Is a scene where Leslie has sex with
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