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readingrainbot's review against another edition
dark
emotional
slow-paced
0.25
This is the third book I’ve read by Eric LaRocca and I give up.
I’m a gay horror fan always on the lookout for queer horror, and the premise of each of their works has appealed to me, but their writing lacks a core understanding of what makes good horror work. The plot is interesting, but the pacing doesn’t serve it, and there is no tension to propel the terror forward.
There is, additionally, the issue
of how queerness works within this novel. Though written by a queer person and featuring three queer characters, the author seems to want the reader to relate most to Ghost, a heterosexual … medium? Psychic? Messianic figure?… whose wife has died in an accident. Queer horror and horror that features queer characters is not the same, and this book utilizes stereotypes about gay men that would have felt out of date in the 1980s.Crowley (who appears at first malevolent and untrustworthy and then… twist!… is) has AIDS, given to him intentionally by his malevolent ex-husband. Brett is coded as effeminate through his beauty and interests in homekeeping and reconciling with their bigoted neighbors rather than fighting after being beaten nearly to death and smeared with fecal matter (a theme that appears in reference to every gay character in the book, believe it or not). Malik, ostensibly our protagonist, is a cop so poorly equipped for physical violence that he brings a kitchen knife rather than his service weapon to confront a gang of bikers, then is raped (in the most detailed and grotesque writing in the book) by Brett’s attacker Fleece and his entire gang, before empathizing with Fleece for his own childhood sexual assault by a gay man. All of this ultimately is in service of… nothing: Ghost asks God to wipe the trauma of these events from Brent and Malik’s minds, leaving the reader without any meaning for the terror and physical abuse we’ve just seen them suffer and leaving their characters as flat and two dimensional as they were when the novel began.
The violence experienced by these characters is experienced in a vacuum, with a true deus ex machina ending. Horror as a genre uses violence, fear, and revulsion to explore something - but there’s nothing to explore here, except a shallow comment that homophobia is bad (yes) and something half-baked about faith and christianity. The reader can’t suspend their disbelief long enough to both believe in the reality of the characters and care enough about them to experience fear on their behalf. I may fear what happened to Brett and Malik happening to me or my family, but there’s almost a lack of imagination about what kind of violence queer people face today in light of conservative attempts to write us out of existence.
For an alternative that touches on similar themes, I suggest Gretchen Felker-Martin’s Manhunt, Chuck Tingle’s Camp Damascus/Straight, or (for an older take that also touches on the spiritual theme) Clive Barker’s Sacrament.
I’m a gay horror fan always on the lookout for queer horror, and the premise of each of their works has appealed to me, but their writing lacks a core understanding of what makes good horror work. The plot is interesting, but the pacing doesn’t serve it, and there is no tension to propel the terror forward.
There is, additionally, the issue
of how queerness works within this novel. Though written by a queer person and featuring three queer characters, the author seems to want the reader to relate most to Ghost, a heterosexual … medium? Psychic? Messianic figure?… whose wife has died in an accident. Queer horror and horror that features queer characters is not the same, and this book utilizes stereotypes about gay men that would have felt out of date in the 1980s.
The violence experienced by these characters is experienced in a vacuum, with a true deus ex machina ending. Horror as a genre uses violence, fear, and revulsion to explore something - but there’s nothing to explore here, except a shallow comment that homophobia is bad (yes) and something half-baked about faith and christianity. The reader can’t suspend their disbelief long enough to both believe in the reality of the characters and care enough about them to experience fear on their behalf. I may fear what happened to Brett and Malik happening to me or my family, but there’s almost a lack of imagination about what kind of violence queer people face today in light of conservative attempts to write us out of existence.
For an alternative that touches on similar themes, I suggest Gretchen Felker-Martin’s Manhunt, Chuck Tingle’s Camp Damascus/Straight, or (for an older take that also touches on the spiritual theme) Clive Barker’s Sacrament.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
ashleighreeb's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- 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
The two story lines didn't seem to mesh and they felt forced. It was definitely and interesting and unique story but I felt like there could have been more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Torture, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Car accident, Blood, and Gore
r_o_s_e's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Blood, and Gore
Moderate: Kidnapping, Rape, Sexual assault, and Grief
Minor: Pregnancy, Abandonment, Child death, and Islamophobia
frutista_freeze's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Violence and Rape
Minor: Kidnapping
spookyjord's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Homophobia
erinmg's review against another edition
dark
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Hate crime, and Rape
aja1013's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
Started off fun, but every theme was shallow, every character equally bland. Explores well documented territory in a very superficial way. I stuck it out to the end and didn’t feel it was worth it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Homophobia, Violence, Physical abuse, Hate crime, and Suicidal thoughts
bookishpriest's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
This felt like two half-conceived short stories stitched together for the sake of making something long enough to publish as a book. Two parallel storylines that suddenly meet up in the last 10% of the book. Some of the ideas were interesting, but fell flat and didn't recieve their due. There were references to Sandman and Needful Things that could have been very compelling but did not deliver.
There were several depictions of extreme violence and homophobia (check the trigger warnings before reading!) that did very little for the story or character advancement,didn't get much treatment and, in the end, were hand-waved away without any real follow-up. This felt to me like a version of trauma porn and not at all helpful.
Whatever the author's intent, I couldn't find it in these pages and it was disappointing enough that I won't be looking for more of their work.
The narration of the audiobook is well done and a pleasant listen.
There were several depictions of extreme violence and homophobia (check the trigger warnings before reading!) that did very little for the story or character advancement,
Whatever the author's intent, I couldn't find it in these pages and it was disappointing enough that I won't be looking for more of their work.
The narration of the audiobook is well done and a pleasant listen.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Homophobia, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Ableism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, and Death
Minor: Pedophilia
butyougotmysoul's review against another edition
slow-paced
1.0
This was an extremely poorly written narrative that held ableist and homophobic views aloft and kept harping on them at every moment. It’s also extremely disappointing to me that the characterization of Crowley was so disproportionately evil and of course he had AIDS. Malik’s whole storyline was terrible and the aftermath of his traumatic experience and Fleece’s explanation for his homophobia was disgusting. Malik sympathizing with Fleece was uncalled for and it seemed like the story went out of its way to humanize someone that would hurt another person in this way. Disgusting.
Gemma couldn’t accept her daughter’s disability and looked at her as a “monster”
Ghost consistently called himself a monster and a burden.
I don’t know if it’s the content or the tone, but I do not get along with this author’s books. Rather than horror, they’re all just vaguely gory, ableist, and meandering. I don’t think I’ll be trying anymore of their writing.
Gemma couldn’t accept her daughter’s disability and looked at her as a “monster”
Ghost consistently called himself a monster and a burden.
I don’t know if it’s the content or the tone, but I do not get along with this author’s books. Rather than horror, they’re all just vaguely gory, ableist, and meandering. I don’t think I’ll be trying anymore of their writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Rape, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Torture, Biphobia, Gore, Hate crime, and Violence
tylerishaunted's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Rape