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kelsylee's review against another edition
Graphic: Drug use, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Abortion
kananineko's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Abortion, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Racial slurs, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Abandonment
Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Islamophobia, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, and War
sarah984's review against another edition
3.5
Favourites: Through the Flash, Zimmer Land, Friday Black, The Finkelstein Five
Graphic: Child death, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Drug use, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicide, Mass/school shootings, Abortion, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Homophobia, Cannibalism, and Classism
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