Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

How Long 'til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin

11 reviews

jayisreading's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

4.5

This surprisingly large collection of short stories really showcased Jemisin’s talent in storytelling and her control in crafting stories from different genres and timelines. Many of these stories aren’t particularly long, yet she managed to breathe so much life into them that made me want to read more about some of these worlds. (I’m also aware that a few of these stories were prototypes—of sorts—for actual novels, which I need to check out!) I was really taken to the pervasive Afrofuturist elements in many of these stories, the way they dreamed for something more.

Like most short story collections, I found some to be more compelling than others, but all-in-all, I know any fan of science fiction/fantasy will be able to find at least two stories that will stick with them.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Body horror

Moderate: Violence and Animal cruelty

Minor: Misogyny, Classism, Slavery, Rape, Racial slurs, and Homophobia

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous reflective medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Death, Racism, and Murder

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Sexism, Police brutality, Misogyny, Classism, Infertility, Sexual content, Gun violence, Violence, and Bullying

Minor: Suicide, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Miscarriage, Homophobia, Child death, Slavery, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Drug use

bookishmillennial's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

I absolutely adored this collection of short science and speculative fiction stories! Some stood out to me or impacted me more than others, but that's just how short story collections go. NK Jemisin is such an excellent writer, and I will continue to read anything by her, even her grocery shopping lists!

My favorites were:

• The Ones Who Stay and Fight
• The Effluent Engine
• Cloud Dragon Skies
• The Trojan Girl
• The Storyteller's Replacement
• The Brides of Heaven
• The Elevator Dancer
• On the Banks of Riber Lex
• The You Train

I listened to the audiobook and I *highly* recommend that format. All of the narrators (Shayna Small, Gail Nelson-Holgate, Robin Eller, Ron Butler, Kevin Stillwell, Je Nie Fleming, Jeannette Illidge) were fantastic!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Body horror, Gun violence, Animal death, Rape, and Murder

Moderate: Police brutality, Slavery, and Racial slurs

Minor: Sexual content

melodyseestrees's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

This is a powerful selection of works. Many I wish were longer but most are long enough to keep a reader satisfied. I recommend the audiobook edition but I will be seeking out a print edition to reread slowly and treasure every detail given life upon the page. There are dark topics within the works but they are not done in a graphic or offensive way. Their purpose isn't to jump scare or get a shock reaction. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Animal death, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Police brutality, Slavery, and Racial slurs

azraelmaya's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Violence

mythian's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Death

Moderate: Racism, Rape, and Sexism

rnbhargava's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

This is a wonderful collection of short stories by NK Jemisin. The content is thus varied and so are the triggers. There’s a good amount of Fantasy, Science Fiction, Magical Realism, even supernatural horror in this collection. It’s not perfect. Some of the stories are arguably too short, basically the germ of an introduction or an idea. Some others are perhaps slightly plodding, though I enjoyed quite a few of the stories regardless of length.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Car accident, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Murder, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Violence

There’s a lot of content warnings across all these stories, I honestly probably missed some. That said, I loved the majority of Jemisin’s shorts in this book and I look forward to reading even more books from her.

mar's review against another edition

medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Death

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Violence, Sexism, Sexual content, and Animal death

Minor: Rape, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Bullying, and Racial slurs

readandfindout's review against another edition

adventurous reflective medium-paced

3.75

The Ones Who Stay and Fight: 4.5 stars
The City Born Great: 3.5 stars
Red Dirt Witch: 5 stars
L'Alchimista: 4 stars
The Effluent Engine: 4 stars
Cloud Dragon Skies: 3 stars
The Trojan Girl: 3 stars
Valedictorian: 5 stars
The Storyteller's Replacement: 2 stars
The Brides of Heaven: 4 stars
The Evaluators: 4 stars
Walking Awake: 3.5 stars
The Elevator Dancer: 3 stars
Cuisine des Mémoires: 4.5 stars
Stone Hunger: 3.5 stars
On the Banks of the River Lex: 4.5 stars
The Narcomancer: 4.5 stars
Henosis: 2.5 stars
Too Many Yesterdays, Not Enough Tomorrows: 3.5 stars
The You Train: 3 stars
Non-Zero Probabilities: 4 stars
Sinners, Saints, Dragons, and Haints, in the City Beneath the Still Waters: 4.5 stars

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Body horror, and Death

Minor: Racial slurs and Rape

bibliofilth's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

I just love Jemisin's writing so much.

The Ones Who Stay and Fight  - 4.5/5
The City Born Great - 2.5/5
Red Dirt Witch - 5/5
L'Alchimista - 4/5
The Effluent Engine - 3.5/5 only because it's so rushed in a short story format - I loved every element of this and would absolutely love a full novella or novel with this concept
Cloud Dragon Skies - 4.5/5
The Trojan Girl - 4/5
Valedictorian - 5/5
The Storyteller's Replacement  - 3/5
The Brides of Heaven - 5/5
The Evaluators - 1/5
Walking Awake - 5/5
The Elevator Dancer - 3/5
Cuisine des Memories - 4/5
Stone Hunger - 2/5
On the Banks of the River Lex  - 4.5/5
The Narcomancer  -2/5
Henosis - 2/5
Too Many Yesterdays, Not Enough Tomorrows - 4/5
The You Train - 3/5
Non-Zero Probabilities  - 2/5
Sinners, Saints, Dragons, and Haints, in the City Beneath the Still Waters  - 4/5

Content warnings: gore, racism, death (Walking Awake specifically is more horror and has some disturbing imagery)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Racism, Death, and Body horror