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erindb's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Death, Violence, Sexual violence, Deadnaming, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Body horror, Cannibalism, Dysphoria, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Rape, Medical content, Torture, Confinement, and Murder
Moderate: Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Gun violence, Infertility, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Alcohol, and Genocide
Minor: Pedophilia, Police brutality, Eating disorder, Animal death, and Mental illness
crimsonreadlips's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Outing, Miscarriage, Lesbophobia, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, Violence, Murder, Misogyny, Hate crime, Death of parent, Deadnaming, Cannibalism, Body horror, Blood, Gore, War, Torture, Sexual violence, Racism, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Fatphobia, Cursing, Classism, Child death, Dysphoria, and Death
breadwitchery's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Transphobia, Rape, Sexual content, Murder, Death, Gun violence, and Violence
Moderate: Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Fatphobia, Suicide, and Ableism
Minor: Religious bigotry, Cursing, Vomit, Drug use, Deadnaming, Outing, Self harm, Pregnancy, Racism, Pedophilia, Dysphoria, and Antisemitism
dracovulpini's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Slavery, Gun violence, Hate crime, Violence, Gore, Rape, Cannibalism, Death, Fatphobia, Medical content, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Transphobia
Moderate: Blood, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, War, Vomit, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Grief, Infertility, and Pedophilia
lakecryptid's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.75
The level of violence in this book is a lot, and the constant peril that the trans characters are in, in addition to the persistent self hatred and interpersonal vitriol, is often overwhelming. It was heartbreaking to read about Beth and Fran's fraught relationship, and seeing the former woman express such beautiful compassion and love, and be met with such deep rejection and loneliness, even from her close friend, was crushing, if accurate. It's sad that the level of trans misogyny and transphobia feels so believable and true to the current moment. Fran's character is understandably grating a lot of the time, and at times it feels like she and Beth almost veer into stereotypes, but not quite. The complex internal narratives and contradictions of the characters save them from being one-note, or simple didactic archetypes to illustrate a political point. I appreciated that in the context of Fran,
By far the most difficult sections of the book to read were the passages from the POV of
I recently finished the book, and upon reflecting more on the story, something I noticed was how all violence, including sexual violence, is presented in the book. The characters are always making pragmatic and strategic decisions about how much violence they can endure, at what cost, and when they can afford to fight back. This kind of grim pragmatism in perspective feels jarring and gross to read, and it should. It's the honest reflection of a bunch of people living through nonstop trauma, in which there often is no "safe" choice, and the only ways the characters can exercise control is by trying as hard as they can to pick how and when they can resist, and when they have to dissociate to live and fight another day. I've read criticisms that the violence and sex in the book is often described in a uniformly graphic style, regardless of the context. I can see that as a valid criticism, since it could be seen as not making a distinction, for example, between consensual sex and sexual violence, or violence and sex at all. In my view, that distinction is still there, but the stylistic unity across scenes shows that in the minds of the characters, the horrible violence they have endured never really leaves their minds, or bodies. It haunts them as they run, as they fight, as they hold their loved ones and are re-traumatized by their enemies. It's gruesome and crushing to read, but in my mind, those are some of the most realistic and affecting parts of the story that really make an impact about the type of world the characters are living in, and what types of perspectives they have been forced to abandon through trauma.
Graphic: Murder, Child death, Outing, Pedophilia, Blood, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Cannibalism, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Body horror, Fatphobia, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Medical content, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture
machinations's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Cursing, Gore, Medical content, Transphobia, Rape, Murder, Sexual content, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Hate crime, and Deadnaming
Moderate: Outing, Homophobia, Dysphoria, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Cancer, Body shaming, and Fatphobia
Minor: Child abuse, Racism, Antisemitism, Ableism, Xenophobia, Pedophilia, and Classism
ollie_again's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
It wasn't the few who'd cheered that frightened her; it was the rest, watching with guarded expressions, not looking at those among their number who cried Go back to Maryland, you fucking Nazis and Fuck TERFs! The women who looked at each other in a way Beth didn't understand, a way sealed forever with the cold and rigid bounds of cisness but which nonetheless told her without room for doubt that they couldn't leave too soon.
That was what scared her.
The women who stayed silent.
Incredibly campy and grotesque. I don't read much horror and even less of gore, I somehow couldn't keep my hands off of this book though. Pretty much everything bad and worse happens and with each chapter, I couldn't believe there would be more to come. And there was.
When I picked this up I thought I knew what I'm going to get, TERFs are the main villains and our main characters are trans folks. I thought I knew what the book will do. Well... not really, you get all the obvious with it: the violence against trans people, body dysmorphia, rampant verbal attacks and TERF rhetoric. But what the author managed to do with all these things, how fucked up it all really gets... in all directions, my brain couldn't keep up. The legacy of Mary Shelley lives on and the question of who is the real monster has always the very same answer. Layers upon layers of proof that people, with the same ideologies, opinions like those living and breathing among us in real life, are much more terrifying than anything else. Everything's all-to-familiar.
And at the same time as the cover (which is absolute perfection) suggests this book is also incredibly funny. Not appropriate humour maybe, but funny nevertheless. Chuckle through the pain.
Graphic: Dysphoria, Gore, Medical content, Transphobia, Rape, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual violence, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Fatphobia, and Vomit
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, and Pedophilia
lunmione's review against another edition
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Dysphoria, Gore, Hate crime, Gun violence, Medical content, Murder, Outing, Sexual violence, Slavery, and War
Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Pedophilia, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Antisemitism, Pregnancy, Vomit, and Self harm
Minor: Incest