Reviews with content warning for Rape - The Woods All Black

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo

63 reviews

saturdayslaughter's review

dark tense medium-paced

4.25

It was so cool to see all this old timey trans stuff! I had a great time following this war veteran invert through rural town hell. I didn’t really go in expecting erotica, I wish I had, I could have enjoyed anticipating it, but anyway that part was good. The story really ramped up for me, and that climax (ha)! Blood and guts and monster sex!

(was kind of wild for the epilogue to put them back in an context I recognized where they weren’t being immediately threatened, it made the age dynamic suddenly way more apparent. not a bad thing! but an interesting thing)

I did find the inclusion of the super natural elements a bit lackluster. I think what I was feeling is that it wasn’t treated like a mystery. I liked the characters choices around Leslie’s reaction to it and the monster and the fact of his own murders, but I didn’t like how Little reaction to it there was. Like he finds a cave with a gorey flowerbed and two severed fingers and after running for his life in the moment he kinda just does not think about it. I would have been fine with that if it had been a bit more explicit that he was avoiding it because of the shellshock or the more immediate threats, but it just felt unaddressed. Overall I felt like something was up with the presentation of the supernatural horror bits. (also something compromised for me in how connected Stevie supposedly is to the forest, vs his ending. it felt like there could have been more there)

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rachelgreenreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo

I didn’t know I had a southern gothic trans horror romance hole in my heart until this book filled it. I think I could read this book a hundred times and not get sick of it.

The prose was lush and poetic, while still feeling grounded and deeply personal. The social horror was impeccable. Mandelo uses parallel themes of one person poisoning a whole community: the villain believes such of our main character, that his queerness will spread sin and evil through the holler. While in reality and alongside this narrative, the pastor, relatively new to town, has poisoned the community with his hatred and suspicion. A community that was once “a decent place as any for a child to be strange.”

Mandelo also captures the intense and unique way in which queer people find and support each other, and the many small and large resistances we’ve embodied throughout history.

If you support trans rights, and also trans wrongs, I highly recommend this book.

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bwoo's review against another edition

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dark slow-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? No

3.75

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fran's review

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dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

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meagan123's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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kat42's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Did not know this was a monsterfucking book. Not exactly my thing (no shade to people who enjoy it, it's just not for me). Almost nothing happened during the first half, and idk if it should be classified as horror even though there's definitely some gore and cruelty. Also Leslie didn't really advance the story at all, and I didn't love that Leslie was 30 and the love interest was 18.

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justacowboy's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

What a good time ... The book starts off slow, but I think the pay off of it all it worth it. If you can get through the first 50 some pages, then the rest of the story flies by! Also, it has trans-queer monster fucking so what's not to love?

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chantaal's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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? Yes

5.0

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roguish_reads's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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blacksphinx's review

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

This is the second time I've read a horror novella from Lee Mandelo that I didn't think qualified as horror. I guess it does because it is a rape-revenge story, but it's mainly a historical queer empowerment novella about monsterfucking. Normally I'd love such a thing but our protagonist is so useless though, and 95% of the story would have shaken out the same way if he wasn't there at all.

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