Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

The Z Word by Lindsay King-Miller

10 reviews

poisoned_icecream's review

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Suicide attempt

tiffditto's review

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Hate crime, Sexual content, Violence, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury

dogoodwithbooks's review

dark tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

Closed Door Mods: Chapter 1 (some parts), Chapter 12 

For a horror novel, The Z Word is a kind of fun book to read. Adopting the various tropes associated with zombie apocalypses media and infusing her own spins on those tropes, King-Miller writes a darkly funny horror novel about a misfit group trying to save Pride from an sudden outburst of zombies. It’s very easy to picture the different elements of this book, from the various Pride festivities to glimpses into the victims of the zombie outbreak, and I liked how King-Miller used her writing to achieve that goal. There are quite a bit of gore/jump scare moments, but those depictions aren’t excessively graphic (only to the point of what’s needed for this type of story). Fans of Andrew Joseph White will appreciate the thematic elements of LGBTQ+ people fighting back against absolutely horrible circumstances as well as the portrayals of complex and messy queer characters in The Z Word. If you’re looking for a horror novel featuring Sapphic MCs, written with a dark sense of humor, and/or has a found family trope, you should keep your eye out for this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Grief, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Body shaming, Religious bigotry, and Car accident

smothermewithscifi's review

dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Racial slurs

tommelisesofia's review

adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Biphobia, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Vomit, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Lesbophobia, Outing, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

aseel_reads's review

dark funny 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? Yes

4.25

This was such a fun plot/premise! I'm impressed with how a whole plot started and finished properly, in less than 300 pages. I loved sunshine, they were such a great character. I do think the characters and their interactions weren't as developed, like we got dumped in their world and there are all these tensions and we just have to role with it. I think because the plot was so fast paced and interesting, it didn't too much, but I think it would have been nice to get to know these characters more 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, and Police brutality

Minor: Sexism, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol

etinney's review

lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

This novel is silly and a bit convoluted, but the author does not try to make the narrative seem anything other than silly and a bit convoluted. I'm not mad about it, but I wouldn't say that this is a favorite.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Homophobia, and Police brutality

Moderate: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Suicide and Abortion

paidays's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Well-executed zombie story that still feels fresh and says ACAB and no corporatization of pride with its full chest. Amen. Gory, but takes the violence seriously on an emotional level, which I always appreciate. Found the “twist” predictable and thought some of the Reveals were overstated, but overall enjoyed the themes of queer solidarity and found family. Sunshine… call me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Fatphobia, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Religious bigotry

librariancat's review

dark funny fast-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Police brutality

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Gore, Blood, and Religious bigotry

shrikebait's review

funny sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

The Z Word was a lot of fun! This is definitely a character-driven story, with no shortage of queer drama. I appreciate that the antics add levity while revealing each character's quirks and hidden insecurities. I also love the serious critiques of rainbow capitalism compounded by zombie horror. 

With that focus in mind, I see this as more "queer horror" than "zombie horror." Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of zombies complete with guts and gore. I was just more invested in the characters' messy relationships and ethical dilemmas than in the undead. 

Thank you to Quirk Books for the chance to check this book out through a giveaway! I'm leaving this review of my own accord

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Police brutality, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Animal death, Emotional abuse, and Car accident