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emory's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Abortion, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, and Gun violence
lain_darko's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Torture and War
booksthatburn's review
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
Some of them have not literally happened but feel like they could if reality got just a little bit worse (or, more awfully, like they’re already here). Others are more speculative, requiring some shift in reality in order to be plausible, or being altogether impossible. In all of them, the relevant social and existential rules are deftly conveyed to build tiny pockets of a different space, in which a story is told that believes its own premise unabashedly and wholeheartedly.
Three of the stories have a shared underlying reality, but I’m not certain whether the others are meant to be connected with them or not. None of the premises are mutually exclusive, but a few would definitely be oddly paired if they canonically coexist. My favorites are “Zimmer Land” (for the way it shows the precarious position of a marginalized employee in a job which objectifies his existence even as it exploits his identity), Friday Black” (for making shopping feel like a zombie story), and “Through the Flash” (for unflinchingly capturing the potential and inevitability of brutality in a certain kind of time loop).
Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, and Medical content
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Vomit, Abortion, Death of parent, and Pregnancy