Reviews

Dead Collections by Isaac Fellman

aleesquer's review

This guy needs to work out his issues with lesbians --
Got halfway thought but:
- every lesbian is called a dyke several times
- all lesbians in this are transphobic
- dysphoria is NOT being "too aware of how your body really is." This idea is really harmful!!! 

cheriepie's review against another edition

I think the author is weird about lesbians and owes every one of us a handwritten apology for the way he writes about them, actually. 🍅🍅🍅

EDIT: okay i have more thoughts to put together, I'm elaborating on them. 

It's strange, really, how this book puts trans men and butch lesbians at odds with one another. At first, I thought this would be an aspect that was properly explored, because Sol tells us that he originally thought he was a butch lesbian, but this just isn't. Or at least, not by the halfway mark in a very short book. In fact, any butch lesbian in this book is one of two things: 1. secretly a trans man or 2. horrible and transphobic. Which makes me think that this author is particularly weird about butch lesbians. (This dichotomy also ignores the existence of trans butch lesbians, but also this book never mentions trans women at all, or at least not in the parts I read.) And it always feels as if the text wants us agreeing with Sol, nodding along as he navel gazes, while also being flat wrong or kind of shitty about lesbians. It's just so frustrating to read. 

yarbroughac's review against another edition

lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

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

3.5

I liked the pieces - the vampire element, the archives, the relationship between the characters, the exploration of self and gender that the protagonist is going through - but I felt like the plot was too weak to really fully make use of most of these elements. I want to like this more than I did, because the lines given to the protagonist about his gender are so relatable, but the story built around that just fell flat for me. Beautiful writing, interesting concepts, relatable commentary on gender, but in my opinion, lacking in an interesting plot to keep the story moving. 

decuco's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

acorn_soup's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-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

keeganlee's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

starsndsteel's review against another edition

I really want to come back and finish this book, because I feel like I’m not smart enough right now to get the full experience. Need to level up and come back. 

slawler's review

3.0

I read a review that described the prose as "heavily freighted with its own paranoid self-consciousness" and that, combined with the fever-dream narration style and Ghost World cynicism and angst made the whole book a very unique read, but not particularly gripping or compelling.

cancerousblush's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.75

applejuiceily's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful medium-paced

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

3.0