Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Fist of the Spider Woman: Tales of Fear and Queer Desire by Amber Dawn

3 reviews

evanlorant's review

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.5

definitely did not think that this would be as hardcore as it ended up being. and yes i did read a story about age play on public transit and i got a couple weird looks from the person sitting next to me. 
a fair few of these stories were excellent: amber dawn, suki lee, and kristin dunnion were highlights. but some of the others were real misses in my mind. but that’s how it often is with a short story collection.
not all of them fit the “horror” brief too well, either. for example, some stories relied on kink tropes like forced pleasure without developing any kind of stance on it as horror in its own right. it read more as a creepy erotica than a story about queer fear and desire. to me, the stories that were GREAT made it worth the read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Blood, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Confinement, Violence, Chronic illness, Alcohol, Body horror, Car accident, Child death, Cursing, Death, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Medical content, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Torture

nella_allen's review

challenging dark mysterious 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

3.5

As with most anthologies, my enjoyment of the stories and poetry was mixed.

Though I didn't care for a lot of the sexual content, especially the ones with sadism, I still enjoyed some of the stories.

The stories I liked best, in order of where they are in the book, are "In Circles" by Aurelia T. Evans, "Shark" by Kestrel Barnes, and "Here Lies the Last Lesbian Rental in East Vancouver" by Amber Dawns.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug use, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Blood, Body horror, Infidelity, Rape, Confinement, Homophobia, Murder, Torture, Car accident, Death, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Gore

parasolcrafter's review

slow-paced

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

i wish i could give negative reviews. let me give this negative 5 stars!!!!!!!!!
had i known it was going to focus on badly written porn i simply would not have read it. genuinely what the fuck was any of this!!!!! there were maybe 2 stories in here that were bearable. good fucking lord. i wanted queer horror and got none of it; unless, of course, you count the writing as horrific.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Blood, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Cursing, Drug abuse, Lesbophobia, Violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Stalking, Transphobia, Death of parent, Rape, Torture, Drug use, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Gore, and Sexual content