Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
fast-paced
Stopped at page 200. There wasn't anything wrong with the book*, I just put it down for the night and discovered I had no desire to pick it back up again to finish. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for diverse casts, LGBT+ representation, and fascinating world building. Lots of cool stuff, so if you've got the stomach for it, give it a try.
*There is a lot of violence. I'm not exactly squeamish when it comes to blood and gore,(I loved The Black Monday Murders, just for one recent example) but I also have limits as to how much violence and gore I want to see my escapism reading. This book definitely flirted with those limits. When violence in the narrative just becomes an aspect of how terrible the world is, that's when I start to check out. Add to that my inability to really connect to the characters to the degree I want, and I don't think I'll be coming back to this.
*There is a lot of violence. I'm not exactly squeamish when it comes to blood and gore,(I loved The Black Monday Murders, just for one recent example) but I also have limits as to how much violence and gore I want to see my escapism reading. This book definitely flirted with those limits. When violence in the narrative just becomes an aspect of how terrible the world is, that's when I start to check out. Add to that my inability to really connect to the characters to the degree I want, and I don't think I'll be coming back to this.
There are some stories that rarely get told. Viscera is not only a rarely told—and sorely needed—story, it is also an exquisite amalgamation of heart-wrenching truths and singularly eccentric fictions.
A motley crew is assembled on a journey, thrown together by mere chance, as life so often has it: the unkillable Ashlan, whose torn-out guts or poison-filled veins just keep regenerating anew; Rafe, a wandering junkie with chest pains that hint at deeper secrets; the sinister walking, talking cloth puppet, Hollis; and the inscrutable Tanka, a delightfully outlandish mix of nature goddess and mad frankenstein-esque biologist. Colorful characters though they may be, their feelings and motivations betray their humanity. They are, indeed, just like us: flawed people with painful secrets they are each, in their own ways, trying to escape.
There is little else that can be told of the story or characters without spoiling the excellent build-up, slow reveal, and breath-taking twists. The hard truths these characters must face about their own identities and pasts are peeled back slowly and painfully over the course of their quest, and as they get closer and closer to an end goal they themselves could never expect. Though initially shockingly gruesome, their literal eviscerations and physical wounds serve a powerful metaphorical purpose. Squailia’s use of literal viscera, blood and intestines, tendons and bone, allegorically matches her deep exploration of identity issues. We cannot live without our guts; we cannot truly live without acknowledging the truth about our very souls.
So often books with characters outside the default straight, cis, white narrative are relegated to positions of lesser influence. The publishing industry often classifies these stories as “special interest”, and critics so often give negative feedback due to being unable “relate” to their characters. It is extraordinarily refreshing to read a book featuring characters and issues that are so often left unmentioned or unnoticed, yet a book that is not marketed as an “issues” story. Instead, Viscera is a fun, vibrant romp through an imaginative landscape, populated by uniquely weird people who yet feel, for so many reasons, viscerally real, and, yes, relatable.
In Viscera, Squailia shows us that, sometimes, the best way to speak our most unique truths, is to use unconventional fictions. And regardless of how far any of us may be from living as our most authentic selves, we may be comforted by the wise words one of the protagonists leaves us with, claiming they are true of every soul: “How they tried, how long, how hard, they tried.”
A motley crew is assembled on a journey, thrown together by mere chance, as life so often has it: the unkillable Ashlan, whose torn-out guts or poison-filled veins just keep regenerating anew; Rafe, a wandering junkie with chest pains that hint at deeper secrets; the sinister walking, talking cloth puppet, Hollis; and the inscrutable Tanka, a delightfully outlandish mix of nature goddess and mad frankenstein-esque biologist. Colorful characters though they may be, their feelings and motivations betray their humanity. They are, indeed, just like us: flawed people with painful secrets they are each, in their own ways, trying to escape.
There is little else that can be told of the story or characters without spoiling the excellent build-up, slow reveal, and breath-taking twists. The hard truths these characters must face about their own identities and pasts are peeled back slowly and painfully over the course of their quest, and as they get closer and closer to an end goal they themselves could never expect. Though initially shockingly gruesome, their literal eviscerations and physical wounds serve a powerful metaphorical purpose. Squailia’s use of literal viscera, blood and intestines, tendons and bone, allegorically matches her deep exploration of identity issues. We cannot live without our guts; we cannot truly live without acknowledging the truth about our very souls.
So often books with characters outside the default straight, cis, white narrative are relegated to positions of lesser influence. The publishing industry often classifies these stories as “special interest”, and critics so often give negative feedback due to being unable “relate” to their characters. It is extraordinarily refreshing to read a book featuring characters and issues that are so often left unmentioned or unnoticed, yet a book that is not marketed as an “issues” story. Instead, Viscera is a fun, vibrant romp through an imaginative landscape, populated by uniquely weird people who yet feel, for so many reasons, viscerally real, and, yes, relatable.
In Viscera, Squailia shows us that, sometimes, the best way to speak our most unique truths, is to use unconventional fictions. And regardless of how far any of us may be from living as our most authentic selves, we may be comforted by the wise words one of the protagonists leaves us with, claiming they are true of every soul: “How they tried, how long, how hard, they tried.”
In short, I wasn't impressed or truly disappointed by this book but enjoyed it enough and that's what matters. To explain further, I will describe with my (pending) patented method of Six Points; where I place credit where I believe it is due and argue where credit shouldn't go - basically, I try to be fair and even.
(Bad) Credit One: The Pacing. This book is only around 300 pages, so I wasn't a expecting a slow burn of a read. Instead, what I got was a lot of meandering and jerking bursts of narrative escalation. A lot of the parts were a drag to get through while others left me utterly confused at the speed.
(Bad) Credit Two: The Scope/Vagueness. To avoid spoilers, I'll just tell you that a lot is at risk if the protagonists fail. This is good and all, but I have no idea how much is at risk or why I should care - everything in the world feels vague and undefined. This clashes badly with the plot, giving me an uncanny sense of everything being grand yet tiny at the same time. I ended up reading just to see what happened next instead of being truly engaged, and left "eh" at best.
(Bad) Credit Three: The Characters. This one hurts the most. Here we have two main characters in cruel world of violence, drug addiction, and weirdness. Even with all that to work with, they came off as flat and not that interesting. They were kinda memorable with decent struggles and backgrounds, except all they really did was act like drug addicted weirdos.
(Good) Credit Four: The Setting. Vague and undefined as the setting of Viscera was, the pieces that did show up were quite interesting. A city is built on the body of a dead god, bones and all. Women can magically give birth to massive, identical broods of children. The brief glimpses of the world's mythology were weird and wonderful.
(Good) Credit Five: The Weirdness. The world of Viscera isn't a pleasant or mundane, and that is good in a special way. One of the (better) main characters is a smart-ass sack of talking organs. There's a cannibal clan of bald-headed people that can control cold fire the dead god produces. Hell, there are potions of literal liquid muscle that can kill people. Lots of dark and clever stuff.
(Good) Credit Six: The Prose/Ending: One thing that made me actually finish this book instead of bemoaning a waste of money was the prose. Frankly, it's good. Not too flowery and not too blunt, but just the right amount of each - fitting for this book's tone. Lastly, there's the ending, a complete mindfucker of a read that reads like sweet poetry.
Enjoy or don't enjoy this book.
(Bad) Credit One: The Pacing. This book is only around 300 pages, so I wasn't a expecting a slow burn of a read. Instead, what I got was a lot of meandering and jerking bursts of narrative escalation. A lot of the parts were a drag to get through while others left me utterly confused at the speed.
(Bad) Credit Two: The Scope/Vagueness. To avoid spoilers, I'll just tell you that a lot is at risk if the protagonists fail. This is good and all, but I have no idea how much is at risk or why I should care - everything in the world feels vague and undefined. This clashes badly with the plot, giving me an uncanny sense of everything being grand yet tiny at the same time. I ended up reading just to see what happened next instead of being truly engaged, and left "eh" at best.
(Bad) Credit Three: The Characters. This one hurts the most. Here we have two main characters in cruel world of violence, drug addiction, and weirdness. Even with all that to work with, they came off as flat and not that interesting. They were kinda memorable with decent struggles and backgrounds, except all they really did was act like drug addicted weirdos.
(Good) Credit Four: The Setting. Vague and undefined as the setting of Viscera was, the pieces that did show up were quite interesting. A city is built on the body of a dead god, bones and all. Women can magically give birth to massive, identical broods of children. The brief glimpses of the world's mythology were weird and wonderful.
(Good) Credit Five: The Weirdness. The world of Viscera isn't a pleasant or mundane, and that is good in a special way. One of the (better) main characters is a smart-ass sack of talking organs. There's a cannibal clan of bald-headed people that can control cold fire the dead god produces. Hell, there are potions of literal liquid muscle that can kill people. Lots of dark and clever stuff.
(Good) Credit Six: The Prose/Ending: One thing that made me actually finish this book instead of bemoaning a waste of money was the prose. Frankly, it's good. Not too flowery and not too blunt, but just the right amount of each - fitting for this book's tone. Lastly, there's the ending, a complete mindfucker of a read that reads like sweet poetry.
Enjoy or don't enjoy this book.
wow!!! this book drew me in very quickly and i was extremely engaged while reading it. i loved the characters and i thought gabby did an amazing job of giving them so much depth and honest emotion. i really liked how the characters often had different perspectives on a situation and all of those perspectives would be explored, it added a lot of depth to the world. i loved rafe and his depiction, it was so real.
my only critiques come from the plot which felt a little too confusing at times as there are two main character story lines we see and several smaller ones and it felt like a lot to keep a handle on, i think that it was a little too much to address in one novel. i started getting confused with ashlan’s story line especially.
i loved the world of this book, the city of Eth and its collapsing nature and the Gone Away Gods were super interesting and unique.
i would 100% read a sequel if there was one and i would definitely recommend this book. so many interesting themes and explorations in here.
>> "But it'll all be the same," said Ashlan. "I won't know it, that's all. But even if I start again, it'll all be exactly the same.”
>> This is happening to me, not in me, because I do not cry. When was the last time I cried? It never happened, and it's not happening now. But someone was spending saltwater down here like they had a full tank., Someone was asking the walls why. Someone was listing all the people who'd gone away, calling their names like they might hear him and come back. "Just come back."
my only critiques come from the plot which felt a little too confusing at times as there are two main character story lines we see and several smaller ones and it felt like a lot to keep a handle on, i think that it was a little too much to address in one novel. i started getting confused with ashlan’s story line especially.
i loved the world of this book, the city of Eth and its collapsing nature and the Gone Away Gods were super interesting and unique.
i would 100% read a sequel if there was one and i would definitely recommend this book. so many interesting themes and explorations in here.
>> "But it'll all be the same," said Ashlan. "I won't know it, that's all. But even if I start again, it'll all be exactly the same.”
>> This is happening to me, not in me, because I do not cry. When was the last time I cried? It never happened, and it's not happening now. But someone was spending saltwater down here like they had a full tank., Someone was asking the walls why. Someone was listing all the people who'd gone away, calling their names like they might hear him and come back. "Just come back."
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Drug abuse, Transphobia, Violence
adventurous
dark
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
