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Reviews tagging 'Body horror'
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar
233 reviews
violerwolf's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This book wasn’t for me. The prose can be so purposefully opaque that it renders parts of the book barely understandable. And while I’m sure that some people enjoy that, personally I think that no matter how cerebral a book is, you should be able to imagine what the characters are doing when the author describes simple actions.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, War, Blood, Death, Murder, Genocide, and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Animal death, Child death, Torture, and Grief
taryn_g's review
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Gore
Moderate: Body horror and Suicide
Minor: Torture
chris_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, War, and Death
Moderate: Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Body horror
Minor: Suicide attempt, Torture, Animal death, Confinement, Genocide, and Murder
aryelee's review
emotional
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
What a book! This was such a gorgeous story about love shining through a never ending, all consuming war. It's the Romeo and Juliet narrative set in space and time among beings that are not human but are still painfully alive. It's choosing each other! It's reaching out, reaching back, going from taunts and an opportunity to enjoy a little fun in the dullness of the same war always fought over and over, and the slow change to wanting more, wanting each other, connecting with the enemy who is more similar to them than the leaders crying for blood and victory.
The only reason this isn't 5 stars is because this is more sci-fi than suits my tastes, which is expected because I am not a huge fan of sci-fi and pretty much never read this genre. Parts were a little confusing or slow enough to be dull so I struggled to get through. But that ending! That entire closing section of the story! Well worth pushing through slower parts to reach.
Honestly, this was a fast read despite how slow it felt at times and how I had to drag myself through a few chapters. Knowing the story fully now, I can see myself going back to reread it. Just, maybe not for a while.
The only reason this isn't 5 stars is because this is more sci-fi than suits my tastes, which is expected because I am not a huge fan of sci-fi and pretty much never read this genre. Parts were a little confusing or slow enough to be dull so I struggled to get through. But that ending! That entire closing section of the story! Well worth pushing through slower parts to reach.
Honestly, this was a fast read despite how slow it felt at times and how I had to drag myself through a few chapters. Knowing the story fully now, I can see myself going back to reread it. Just, maybe not for a while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Animal death, Death, War, and Violence
blumoonie's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-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
4.0
it took me such a goddamn long time to finish this book because I had surgery… I’ll pretend that was it.
I was deeply impressed by the end, when I could look back and appreciate all the foreshadowing. The prose, too, was unlike anything I’ve ever read— poetic, leaving plenty of space for the reader to comprehend imagery and plot on their own. this was, unfortunately, the single drawback of this novel… it was a struggle for me to read in my anaesthesia-induced state; I would sit puzzling over single sentences for hours. That said, now that I’ve been able to approach it with a clear head, I can enjoy the style much more. I’d recommend this to anyone who’s into timey-whimey sci-fi topped off with queer romanticism and a sprinkle of mystery.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Gore
Moderate: Suicide attempt and Self harm
mallorypen's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This was a different sort of book, and I enjoyed it in a different sort of way.
Let me explain.
The epistolary style of storytelling isn't usually my jam, but in this novella - holy shit it works. This is the epitome of Yearning™️ in the more pure fashion, where our protagonists are in love with each other's minds before and above all else. Their physical forms are important - especially in the finale of the plot - but they change. As such, there is no lust in the traditional sense. There's no bodily awareness, no burning glances. There's pretty much only admiration for one another's cunning and hunger, and that turn from admiring rivals to a victorious Romeo and Juliet was incredibly well told.
Speaking of Romeo and Juliet: that detail where Red sees the play in different strands and sometimes it's a tragedy and sometimes it's a comedy - how clever that this novella is an example of the story as a comedy (Shakespeare version, not the Taylor Tomlinson version of comedy).
The strand concept reminded me favorably of Ursula K. LeGuin's "Changing Planes" - we didn't have to learn a lot about each thread, but the level of detail that was shared was enough to ground the reader in each setting. Whereas "Changing Planes" only jumped through time and not also space, this still felt relatively easy to follow as the protagonists moved from location to location.
I initially thought that the Seeker was Red and Blue following up on each other for safety - I didn't guess the twist until towards the end when Red started putting her plan in place.
This was a lovely, lyrical experience. Like one of the letters themselves admitted that the prose had a tendency to turn purple, there were a few times where it got a little syrupy for me. That said, I enjoyed the hell out of the unique turns of phrase throughout. Especially - and I had to stop to record it because it was so good - "Adventure works in any strand. It calls to those who care more about living than their lives.”
Let me explain.
The epistolary style of storytelling isn't usually my jam, but in this novella - holy shit it works. This is the epitome of Yearning™️ in the more pure fashion, where our protagonists are in love with each other's minds before and above all else. Their physical forms are important - especially in the finale of the plot - but they change. As such, there is no lust in the traditional sense. There's no bodily awareness, no burning glances. There's pretty much only admiration for one another's cunning and hunger, and that turn from admiring rivals to a victorious Romeo and Juliet was incredibly well told.
Speaking of Romeo and Juliet: that detail where Red sees the play in different strands and sometimes it's a tragedy and sometimes it's a comedy - how clever that this novella is an example of the story as a comedy (Shakespeare version, not the Taylor Tomlinson version of comedy).
The strand concept reminded me favorably of Ursula K. LeGuin's "Changing Planes" - we didn't have to learn a lot about each thread, but the level of detail that was shared was enough to ground the reader in each setting. Whereas "Changing Planes" only jumped through time and not also space, this still felt relatively easy to follow as the protagonists moved from location to location.
I initially thought that the Seeker was Red and Blue following up on each other for safety - I didn't guess the twist until towards the end when Red started putting her plan in place.
This was a lovely, lyrical experience. Like one of the letters themselves admitted that the prose had a tendency to turn purple, there were a few times where it got a little syrupy for me. That said, I enjoyed the hell out of the unique turns of phrase throughout. Especially - and I had to stop to record it because it was so good - "Adventure works in any strand. It calls to those who care more about living than their lives.”
Good shit!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Body horror and War
ladythana's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror and Violence
Minor: Confinement and Torture
pacifickat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? No
4.25
-Red
This book is well crafted, brutal, and poetic. It also, for the most part, is not what I would have considered my kind of book, and I struggled to read past the first confusing chapters. I was not expecting the literary density and convoluted phrasing of the letters between the two main characters. It felt like work to focus and hold on to the plot. Epistolary works often require a bit of patience. But boy am I glad I stuck with it! This story has a great payoff, even if it leaves a lot unexplained in the worldbuilding and open for the reader to interpret and imagine.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
Moderate: Animal death, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Stalking and War
Poisoning, sexual innuendosoftgalaxy's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Wow. I’ve never read a book like this before. I heard good things beforehand, and I was pleased that I enjoyed it as much as I did.
The writing is decadent and poetic. I’m not going to lie and say that I completely understood the sci-fi elements, but it didn’t matter to be honest.
This book had me silently screaming. Sapphic enemies to lovers plus time-travel is just *chef’s kiss*.
I want to read this again and again. Highly recommend.
The writing is decadent and poetic. I’m not going to lie and say that I completely understood the sci-fi elements, but it didn’t matter to be honest.
This book had me silently screaming. Sapphic enemies to lovers plus time-travel is just *chef’s kiss*.
I want to read this again and again. Highly recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: War, Murder, and Torture
twittysuch's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The story starts a bit confusing, but such is the way when you're working with time travel. Each page is more poetic than the last and it picks up about halfway in. There were moments of incredible suspense and heartbreak, but I finished the last page with my arms covered in goosebumps and my cheeks streaked with tears. As my copy was a library book, I knew I had to get my own copy to read again and again (with lots of notes in the margins).
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Blood, Body horror, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Stalking