Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Even Greater Mistakes by Charlie Jane Anders

3 reviews

valjeanval's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

I've been 50/50 on CJA's novels, but I really think she excels at the short story. The range demonstrated in this one collection stretches from whimsically cheerful to violent absurdist to scathing speculation and dark realities. "Captain Roger in Heaven" and "Power Couple" are probably the standouts that were new to me in this collection. I think the only one I really didn't care for was "Fairy Werewolf vs. Zombie Vampire" which just tipped my whimsy scale over the edge. The only other slightly disappointing factor was that I already owned other collections featuring these stories, but it was still a nice excuse to reread them. I think I could read "As Good as New" any number of times and still appreciate it. 

The book jacket to this edition calls her "This generation's LeGuin," but I think that's not entirely fair. Yes there's a heavy dose of social commentary and speculation, but CJA's style is distinctively her own and is deeply rooted in this generation here and now

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Confinement, Murder, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Child abuse, Xenophobia, Transphobia, Violence, and Mental illness

tero's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Medical trauma

Moderate: Racism, Transphobia, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, and Torture

Minor: Islamophobia, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, and Homophobia

Note: content warnings are for things mentioned or subjects tackled by the stories. Content warnings for individual stories are included in the book.

galexy_brain's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Violence, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Gun violence, War, Mental illness, Dementia, Death, and Suicide

Minor: Alcohol, Torture, Suicide, Drug use, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Islamophobia, Fatphobia, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual assault