Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Bound in Flesh: An Anthology of Trans Body Horror by Lor Gislason

17 reviews

bruisedtigers's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

As always, it's hard to rate an anthology. I was a little disappointed by a good handful of these, even if they had a good premise.

Standouts for me are "Mama is a Butcher" and "Show Me." I'd consider the best of the lot to be " Lady Davelina’s Last Pet."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Sexual violence, Body horror, and Violence

ramreadsagain's review

dark reflective tense fast-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

An excellent collection of short stories, with a great mix of disturbing, creepy, odd and horrifying. I can definitely see how trans people in particular can have an intimate relationship with body horror, and these stories are a powerful representation of this. 

Some favourites include The Haunting of Aiden Finch (which is great for creepypasta fans), Lady Davelina’s Last Pet, Long Fingers, and the final three especially! 

Some were a bit of a miss for me, but I still absolutely recommend this anthology! 

I was offered a free copy of this book by Book Sirens and am leaving this review voluntarily. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Body horror, and Gore

Moderate: Vomit, Pregnancy, and Sexual violence

Minor: Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Religious bigotry

mythian's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I had never considered how the trans experience could be related to body horror before, but having read this book, I think it was a brilliant idea to put this collection together. The horror elements put the reader at unease with the main character's situation and their body, encouraging empathetic connections with someone of a different gender or lived experience than yours. Many of these characters have a strong sense of identity-- they know what is right for them, and when something is wrong, you can feel how disturbing the situation is. The characters also often very driven; they go for what they want, even if it may seem horrific to others.

I found several stories empowering, but there are just as many that I found really gross and disturbing. That all comes down to personal preference, but this is a reminder to be in the right headspace when reading this book, as there is frequently quite vitriolic imagery.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Dysphoria, Body horror, and Sexual content

Moderate: Medical trauma, Self harm, Medical content, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Excrement

Suicidal ideation

arthur_ant18's review

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Mental illness

Minor: Animal death

enchantressreads's review

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Murder, Death, Child abuse, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Blood, Body horror, and Gore

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Rape, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Excrement, and Dysphoria

Minor: Animal death

sdsmith80's review

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

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

5.0

Usually collections and anthologies take me longer to read, but I whipped through this one in less than a day. The stories range from gross to heartbreaking, with a wide range in-between. 

The first story does a great job of setting the tone and greatly reminded me of a certain Soska Sisters film that's a personal favorite of mine, and it's definitely the entry I enjoyed the most, for that reason. 

Other tales I would love to see adapted, especially Mama Was a Butcher, and Man of the House. I could picture them vividly and it would be great to see what they become onscreen. 

In the Garden of Horn, The Naked Magic Thrives is another beautiful story from Hailey Piper, and oh, I want to know more! I want to see what happens next! 

I don't think I can say much more without giving spoilers, which I really don't want to do. What I can say is if you're a fan of body horror, you need to check this out! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Gore, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Blood, Car accident, Cursing, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Body horror, Death, Transphobia, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Medical content, and Murder

Mind the content warnings, but don't let them deter you from an excellent read!

mxbluet18's review

challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

Trigger warnings for Bound in Flesh include: profanity, sex, violence, death, suicide, abuse, and blood & gore.
☆
☆
I enjoy having trans and queer representation in the stories I read. However, I don't think this flavour of trans rep is for me. I like some horror tropes, and I can deal with a low level of gore and violence, but this wasn't for me.
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Even though the subject matter wasn't to my taste, I did like the fact that it was centered on trans people, which having read the foreword, I know was the intent. I appreciate that authors are striving to put forward a diverse range of genres with queer representation outside of the standard.
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Thank you to BookSirens for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Sexual content, Suicide, Gore, Blood, and Body horror