Reviews with content warning for Suicide - The Dawnhounds

I loved the characters and their connections. I loved this world built with life itself, yet lacking fundamental connections to life and other. That was intriguing and well developed. The bin chicken insult- delightful. The characters and their relationships are well established. The world building is well done.
Spoiler: The only thing I didn't get was

why Sibby was so mad at the main character for going back, as if the antagonist wouldn't have started releasing the spores and killing the city if she hadn't (cause he already was).

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theladyjess's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.75

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jakegray's review

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adventurous hopeful 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? No

5.0

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anxiousnachos's review

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dark mysterious

4.25

This was a very cool and weird sapphic Māori cyberpunk fungal horror and if that doesn’t hit literally every spot I need, I don’t know what will. The world is *spectacular*. It completely satisfied the cyberpunk craving I’ve had since obsessing over Cyberpunk 2077 earlier this year. It has that combination of future tech but eery, creepy vibe full of capitalist immorality that just creates the perfect cyberpunk world. I mean, people live in mushroom houses that feed on their dead skin and sweat but if it goes wrong they try to eat them?! Are you kidding me?! How fucking amazing. Is it so weird at times I’m still not sure what happened? Possibly. But it’s in the same way Tamsyn Muir writes and means I think a lot of things will get further explained (and more mysteries added…) in sequels, which I can’t wait to read.

Content warnings: graphic depictions of body horror, violence, blood and gore, homophobia, ableism, suicide, animal death, death, gun violence, addiction, self harm, war

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laurareads87's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Maybe 3.5 stars for me, but I'm rounding up because Sascha Stronach has written a great bisexual woman protagonist and cast of diverse characters that I really appreciate.
I feel complicatedly about this one. I liked quite a bit about it: original world-building, well-executed weird, and really thoughtful representation. The system of... magic? science? is interesting and the action scenes are well written. What didn't work for me at all was the pacing -- sometimes scenes felt like they were drawn out longer than they needed to be, while at other times there seemed to be significant jumps that left me wondering if I'd perhaps missed something. All in all: reads like a debut, but a promising one; I'll read the sequel.

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caseythereader's review

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Thanks to Saga Press for the free copy of this book.

- I’m not sure I actually know what to make of THE DAWNHOUNDS. It was wildly creative and inventive, filled with compelling characters, action packed, and often confusing as heck.
- I think the author leaned a little too hard into the “drop readers in without explaining the world and they’ll figure it out” school of sci-fi. Eventually I think I got a handle on it, but a lot of it still felt under-explained, especially the mythology of the gods.
- However, I really loved the writing and found it so compelling. I do think I’ll pick up the next in the series when it arrives, because although this book had some issues, I think Stronach is an author to watch.

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