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askirmishofwit's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Gore, Eating disorder, Death, Murder, Animal death, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Dysphoria, and Racism
gvstyris's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
There always seems to be something that suffers or dies as a result of any form of food consumption.
Man, I'm really bummed. There are so many reasons I wanted to love this book. On a superficial level, the title and original cover design are epic, and subtly characterise our protagonist as empowered and mildly menacing. I also absolutely lived for the audiobook narration (full credit to Katie Leung, who voices Caitlyn in Arcane <3) and the premise itself. As well as juxtaposing vampirism with Lydia's mixed-Anglo-Japanese-Malaysian identity, Kohda uses Lydia's vampirical inability to eat as an analogy for an eating disorder. A really cool idea, and I'm so so sad that it didn't work for me.
For one thing, the characters were relatively flat...which, given that this novel is lacking in plot/world-building, was a fatal flaw. Lydia herself gave me unbearable second-hand embarrassment at times, particularly because of her poor social skills and uncomfortable interactions with Ben. I understand this was a deliberate choice to demonstrate Lydia's forced social isolation, but I ultimately struggled to root for her in a way that hindered my enjoyment of the novel. I feel similarly, if not worse, about Ben, who lacks development and consequentially comes across as a white man with a fetish for East Asian women...
I would've loved to see many parts of this novel explored in more depth, especially the relationship between Lydia's parents. I also made the critical mistake of reading this alongside The Bell Jar -- the two novels have similar atmospheres, and it was impossible to not compare them.
Ultimately, Kohda's visceral food imagery was the highlight for me. As someone who's very much not a foodie, I related to aspects of Lydia's relationship with food and loved seeing how her mother's beliefs and self-hatred influenced her own. It's clear that Kohda has a lot of care for her subject matter, which will definitely stick with me, so I'm glad I gave it a read regardless.
Graphic: Animal death and Blood
Moderate: Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
popcornn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content
danaaliyalevinson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
At the end of the day, this book was about breaking generational trauma, and female desire and its challenge to the gender hierarchy. And I don’t exclusively mean sexual desire, I mean ambition as well.
The prose was absolutely beautiful. The characters were rich and fascinating. Sometimes I felt the grand themes got away from the book a little. But overall, I really really enjoyed this one.
Graphic: Body horror, Racism, Murder, Dementia, Sexism, Blood, Death, Grief, Gore, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
vee_the_tree's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Death of parent, Blood, Body shaming, and Death
Minor: Terminal illness, Dementia, Eating disorder, Animal death, Grief, Cancer, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Suicidal thoughts
peggy_racham's review against another edition
4.75
Ah good vampire books. The parallel the Mc draws between being non white and being a vampire are chiefs kiss.
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Dementia, Medical content, Death of parent, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Murder, Gore, Grief, and Sexual harassment
renegadegrocerycart's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Murder, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Gore, and Death
Minor: Sexual assault
bexxhenders's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, Gore, and Sexual assault
Minor: Racism and Xenophobia
readingwithgoose's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Sexual assault and Murder
nicolesbookreviews's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Child death, Sexual content, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Murder, Racism, and Toxic relationship