Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi

7 reviews

zombiezami's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.25

I read this for a book club. It was hard for me to get into, but I did eventually get there. The part I liked best about this book was the worldbuilding. I especially enjoyed the author's approach to imagining tech that really doesn't work the way you want it to, or that you have to McGyver to make useful, or that wasn't made with you in mind. Even in other dystopias involving inadequate technology, I feel that Onyebuchi's approach is uniquely nuanced. 

All of the big emotional inflections in the book definitely hit, for example, "

Chinelo's death, Agu's death, finding out that Onyii killed Ify's mother and lied about where she came from

. Even so, there were a lot of characters, in my opinion, and I kept forgetting who was who.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Gun violence, Death, Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Torture, Hate crime, Murder, Confinement, Cursing, Violence, War, Death of parent, Body horror, Bullying, Abandonment, Medical content, Stalking, Animal death, and Addiction

Moderate: Racial slurs, Islamophobia, Drug use, Drug abuse, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Cancer

Minor: Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Colonisation, and Sexism

lanid's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Ableism, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Addiction, Animal death, Racism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Violence, Physical abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Bullying and Cancer

mandkips's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Death, Child death, and Slavery

Moderate: Body horror, Drug use, Animal death, and Death of parent

Minor: Misogyny and Racism

midnacine's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny informative 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? It's complicated

3.0

While I enjoyed this, it's just not for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Violence, Racism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, War, Death, Emotional abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Kidnapping and Body horror

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Death, Blood, Violence, Gun violence, War, Genocide, Colonisation, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Drug use, Grief, Medical content, and Slavery

Minor: Cancer, Misogyny, Racism, and Vomit

bookswithjk's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, and Racism

Moderate: Body horror

booksthatburn's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

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

5.0

War Girls depicts the complex and evolving relationship between two sisters in the middle of a futuristic war as we learn about their pasts and they struggle to dream of a future. Book CWs for body horror, murder, war, child soldiers.

This book is a strange kind of visceral, paying attention to dirt and grime as much as it depicts sensory extension through technology. It's mainly from the perspective of two child soldiers in a futuristic Biafran/Nigerian war, each cyberized in different ways. Onyii's augmentations are mostly physical, replacing body parts which have been taken or lost while fighting. Ify's augmentations expand her world, letting her extend her senses and gain a sense of control over her surroundings. It did a good job of communicating the experience of using technology in a visceral way rather than getting bogged down in exactly how the future-tech worked.

There's a theme of child soldiers growing up to direct new children to be soldiers, themselves contributing to the same violence that wrecked their childhoods. Sometimes they are still children while directing even younger children on how to kill. This was absolutely on purpose and it's woven through the whole book. They are also trying to, successfully or not, grapple with what that means. It's filled with grief and anger, and what happened and what could have been. 

Early on the book has a lighter narrative tone, it shifts to become grimmer later on as they are older, more aware of the toll of the violence they're taking part in. The early book isn't any less gruesome than the later sections, but the framing subtly shifts to more fully realize the horror around them as Onyii and Ify grow up. For me the turning point was when the abd are introduced, from that point on the self-awareness ramps up.

It's very good and I highly recommend it. The characters are fantastic and strong; the relationship between Onyii and Ify is complex and becomes more nuanced throughout the book; and it has a good balance between showing some of the horrors of war and having many moments of joy to keep from being too depressing to read. It's probably not a good book for cheering up, but you should definitely read it when you're in the right headspace for something emotionally complicated.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Child death

Moderate: Body horror

CW for body horror, murder, war, child soldiers