Reviews tagging 'Mass/school shootings'

Man Made Monsters by Andrea L. Rogers

4 reviews

katrinky's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense

3.5

too gruesome for me, and I didn't think the extensive family tree added much. there were several really beautiful (sakonige) and poignant (deer woman, Ama's appearance in the zombie story, the dad of the girl with the abusive ex, the cousin in the carbon monoxide story) moments, and the artwork is gorgeous. the vocabulary on the back was wonderful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Car accident, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Child death, Terminal illness, Mass/school shootings, Animal death, Grief, Violence, and Sexual violence

jenna_smuszkiewicz's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I picked this book up on a  whim and I'm glad I picked it up! The illustrations are gorgeous in this. I also think it is cool how we follow a family from the 1830s to the future in 2039. I'm not Cherokee, and I really enjoyed learning some Cherokee words and seeing the syllabary used in the art in particular. There are some classic monsters in here like

vampires and werewolves

but also ones that I think are from Cherokee folklore. Some of the monsters featured here are everyday horrors we face and some characteristics of humans as well. I'm not that big into horror, and I didn't find this book to be that bad. Definitely look at content warnings though. 

My biggest critiques or personal preferences are that while separating it into chapters and jumping around the family tree was cool, I didn't get to really connect with the characters. I'm a big character reader so that's a personal preference thing. I think the jumping around does work for this book though and I get why it was done. Also, one big thing from the family tree that I don't understand:

How is Will Wilson's branch of the tree there? I thought he was the baby that died from the vampire in the first chapter. So, that really confused me.

If you are looking for a unique horror book that showcases many types of things that go bump in the night, I would highly recommend this!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Death, Grief, Animal death, Blood, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Rape, Domestic abuse, and Cultural appropriation

kayladaila's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious medium-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? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Death, Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Gore

Moderate: Alcohol, Abandonment, Toxic friendship, Genocide, Racial slurs, Animal death, Child death, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Cancer, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Homophobia, Rape, and Child abuse

marywahlmeierbracciano's review

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

5.0

This collection of interconnected stories by Cherokee author Andrea L. Rogers will appeal to teens as well as adults.  Following the same family tree over 200 years, these tales of horror range from historical to futuristic and feature tropes and characters both feared and beloved.  Strong female leads are abundant and Cherokee language is speckled throughout (glossary included).  Man Made Monsters is the perfect decolonized spooky read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Violence, Death of parent, Blood, Cannibalism, Gore, Colonisation, Confinement, and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Genocide, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Medical content, Child death, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Pregnancy, Outing, Lesbophobia, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Vomit, Car accident, Classism, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Child abuse, and Slavery