Reviews with content warning for Gore - Flowers for the Sea

Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Flowers for the Sea by Zin E. Rocklyn

15 reviews

discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

My rating of this book is based entirely on personal preference and not necessarily a reflection on how good or bad it is. I could see someone with different tastes than me absolutely loving this, and that’s totally cool.

This is one of those books that is purposefully unclear for the first, like, 75%, until you’re granted some grand revelation that’s supposed to make it all make sense. Except I still had more questions than answers at the end of this story, and feeling lost the entire time didn’t make for a very enjoyable reading experience for me.

The writing was beautiful and descriptive yet very cryptic in nature, which made it hard to connect with the protagonist and the story. I think I’d need to re-read this two or three times before having a clearer understanding of what’s going on. There’s definitely some allegorical meaning at play here, and if I had to guess, something to do with generational trauma.

Huge trigger warning for pregnancy and childbirth which is depicted in probably the gnarliest way I’ve ever encountered.

Content Warnings

tooyu's review

Go to review page

dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.5

Haha, yikes!

Content Warnings

_fallinglight_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.25

Unremarkable save for the ending and a few other bits throughout that were intriguing. Maybe this story would've benefitted from being a 350 page novel bc it would've answered some questions and made you (or ok, me) care more about Iraxi or the other characters or the story itself that worse than not caring about, I found super silly at points. Though the point was to be lyrical and mysterious and blah blah and it didn't work for me.

Content Warnings

mmccombs's review

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective fast-paced

4.0

This is a novel shaking with fury. Like the plot doesn’t really matter, but the anger from our main is palpable and delicious to read. The writing was really immersive and the dark vibe was complimented by the setting. A perfect little bite size treat of a story buzzing with energy and thirsty for revenge.

Content Warnings

ghoulsbookclub's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

FINISHED IN ONE SITTING!

At the end you say “What did I just read!?” But this was beautifully written. I wish it was a full length book because I think you would be able to to get more insight to the characters. I’d definitely be interested to read more from this author in the future.

TW: body horror, gore, pregnancy horror (I’m not sure how else to explain that), & infertility.

Content Warnings

popcornreading's review

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

3.0

This was a story about vengeance and reluctant motherhood. I can’t say I liked it because it made me feel extremely uncomfortable at times, but that was the author’s intent. The sensory details had me covering my eyes in disgust. So yeah, I’d say this book succeeded in what it set out to accomplish.

Content Warnings

vigil's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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? It's complicated

1.5

this book honestly reads as extremely uninspired and derivative. i think it is unfair to compare books and authors to each other, but once i read that rivers solomon was an inspiration to the author, it was extremely clear to me why.

if you entered this book for the sea creature element, and you enjoyed the commentary on trauma, and all the other shit that fucked up baby started spouting towards the end, read the deep by rivers solomon, which a better take on the subjects by a mile.

this book tried to posit itself and its character work as something it wasn’t, and this is at it’s clearest in the ending, that is meant to be a kind of reclamation of oneself and autonomy, but to the reader, evidently less concerned with symbolism than the author, it comes across as a new kind of chain. really, the prose is lovely, and the atmosphere is strong, rocklyn conveys very visceral horror and emotions through the protagonist’s experience, but there’s really nothing in this book that justifies reading it.

Content Warnings