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puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Terminal illness, Child death, Death, Animal death, Cannibalism, Blood, Body horror, and Grief
Moderate: Medical content, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence
Minor: Excrement, Vomit, Confinement, and Drug use
kleinekita's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Grief, Murder, Death, Body horror, Animal death, and Blood
Minor: Chronic illness, Death of parent, and Excrement
onlyincursive's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Death, Dysphoria, Grief, Medical content, Murder, and Gore
Moderate: Eating disorder, Medical trauma, Violence, and Drug use
Minor: Toxic relationship, Excrement, Cursing, and Suicidal thoughts
r_o_s_e's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Animal death, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Dysphoria, Murder, Ableism, and Blood
Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Sexual content, Vomit, Drug use, Excrement, Physical abuse, and Chronic illness
house_of_hannah's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
"Her son dies in a child-sized bed, big enough for him but barely enough to hold her and her husband who cling to the edges, folding themselves small so they fit one on each side of him."
What a way to open a story ! The first 50% of this book is written in such a gorgeous and haunting way. I really felt like I was there with the characters and sharing in their grief.
This book surprised me in many ways. Firstly, it's tagged as horror, but it's really not what you'd expect at first glance. I suppose it would be called literary horror ? We follow different points-of-view throughout the book, but it isn't a back and forth; instead when we switch to a new POV we never return to the original one. Finally, there is a time skip 50% into the book that caught me completely off guard, and took me a good 6-8 pages to understand what was happening.
The first half of this story completely captivated me, and I was honestly shocked that this is the author's debut. Unfortunately, I just wasn't as into it after the time skip. I would loved to have read more about Monstrilio's transformation, how they introduced him to the world and explained his existance to others.
I really enjoyed how this book explored grief and love. Now that I think of it, every character in this book could be considered queer, but it's not something that's ever commented on. The characters are just who they are.
This author is definitely on my radar now, and I will be looking forward to reading whatever they publish in the future.
Graphic: Grief, Animal cruelty, Child death, and Animal death
Moderate: Sexual content, Murder, and Medical content
Minor: Death of parent and Excrement