Reviews with content warning for Transphobia - The Woods All Black

Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo

110 reviews

hilarybuff's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No

1.0

Not sure what to say about this one. Did not enjoy, probably should have dnf'd, but kept going because I didn't think it would get worse.

Content Warnings

cheriepie's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Loveable characters? No

1.0

I've never read a book that is so disinterested in its own world and characters that I have to wonder why this author picked up a pen at all. The writing style is so sparse as to read like a police blotter. Things occur in an order and the author does not care to write them in any way that might, perhaps, draw some emotion out of the reader. This supposedly historical folk horror writes its 1920s rural Kentucky pastor as if he were a post-Reagan megachurch pastor from Texas. All the townspeople (save Stevie, the Victim Who Needs to be Saved) are cardboard cutouts that we can watch Leslie dunk on.

Our main character is a sanctimonious little twerp who exists only to help those "backwards hicks in Appalachia" and bring its queer people back to the "progressive north." I'm actually shocked that the author purports being from Kentucky; by the way he writes about southerners as either all evil conservatives or poor doe-eyed victims who need to "just leave," I'd have assumed he was from upstate New York.

Also, this book hates women. Every woman that this character meets is either a. a tradwife helpmeet who just falls in step with her husband or the pastor; b. a victim who needs saving; or c. eye candy for our leering weirdo MC.

There's better folk horror books out there, there's better trans men MCs out there, and better queer literature out there. Don't pick up this one.

Content Warnings

krisreads22's review against another edition

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dark 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? N/A

3.5

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ethana's review

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

zombecrustacean's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

⭐⭐⭐⭐🐊🐊🐊🐊

While this book has a low page count, I didn't feel that the story suffered at all from the shortness of the novel. I thought we had ample time to learn about the characters, understand the setting, and set up the premise. I will say, it is crucial that you read the trigger warnings before jumping into this one!

The thing that I'll touch on in my review that I really loved was the diverse perspective on the trans experience here. We have trans characters with different ways of describing their gender preference and different representations of how they prefer to engage in sexual activity. That is super important! I feel so often that media tries to push this narrative that to be trans you need to completely convert from one gender to the other; that you must hate the body you were born in. And while that is true for many people, it is not altogether a synonymous experience of the community.

The age gap relationship is what took one star away for me. While it mostly fit with the setting and characterization of our protagonists, I don't prefer it. At least, not to this extent. Freshly 18 with a 30-something? Not quite my vibe.

Content Warnings