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freneticscribbler's review against another edition
dark
emotional
fast-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
F**king hell, Khaw. F**king hell. A whole world so other from and yet so close to our own future, which we see only fragments of. Brutally fast paced, we see this other-same world twisted through such wonderfully diverse lenses, each utterly tortured in their own way. Incisive on love, identity, faith, and so much more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, and Gore
Moderate: Torture and Death
booitsnathalie's review
adventurous
dark
medium-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? Yes
4.5
A defiant scream into the universe; a refusal to become only pain, bodies without self; poetry born of love and death and comic spite. Hope is so hard to find in this bloodied, fragile existence, but it's there, beating at the bruises and concrete that could never bury us. Whispers turning to cries in defiance of anyone arrogant enough to think they get to choose when we die.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Gore, and Violence
Minor: Deadnaming
yavin_iv's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicide
Minor: Slavery and Deadnaming
bookishjournal1's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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? Yes
3.0
The All-Consuming World by Cassandra Khaw was a roller coaster of a read for me. The book is about a group of women who were once part of a criminal group called The Dirty Dozen. They spent years together being able to reincarnate into cyborg bodies before their last mission went horribly wrong and the group disbanded. Years later they have to reunite to save one of their own and to return to the place where their last mission went wrong.
I really enjoyed the premise of this book and was looking forward to diving into the world that Cassandra Khaw built. The world building in this book is incredible and I felt completely immersed because of the descriptive writing style. I also enjoyed reading about this group of women and how their grief and anger has been handled in different ways and seeing all the messiness that comes when you have clashing personalities and agendas. I also really liked how diverse the characters are and always enjoy seeing POC and queer representation in any book.
At first, it was rather difficult for me to get into this book. The writing style is pretty intense and I did feel like it was getting bogged down by the amount of adjectives being used while it almost made me feel like I was reading a bunch of SAT words strung together when simpler terms could have conveyed the point across. After about 80 pages I did want to put the book down but I kept going and found myself enjoying the pacing and the writing style a lot better in the back half of the book. I know some people are going to enjoy the kind of over descriptive prose found in this novel but it didn't really work for me for most of this book.
Overall, I think Cassandra Khaw has written a very sumptuous books with the kind of science-fiction world building others can only dream of and filled it with characters that fascinating, infuriating, and realistic all at the same time.
I was given an e-ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-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
*I received a free review copy in exchange for an honest review of this book.
THE ALL-CONSUMING WORLD is a beautiful mess of broken people here to fuck shit up and probably die trying at least once or twice.
The world-building is marinated in sci-fi vibes and queer longing, generated though hyper-dense jargon alternated with declarations of laser-focused loyalty backed up by gore and plasma. It even takes the time to show a brief glimpse of how ordinary person would conduct life in this space, all without stopping the action. It's fragmented like a glass vase you drop on purpose while making smoldering eye contact with a nemesis you want to fuck. Most beautiful as it shatters but useless afterwards. Turns out the vase is Maya, and Rita is prepared to drop and rebuild her a hundred times to get what she wants.
There are several narrators who each have their own styles, it made them pretty easy to tell apart which was helpful when the story is revealed through the combination of their perspectives and they're apart for most of the book.
I loved Maya's meeting with Reha. It's this moment to breathe and contemplate, something it feels like Maya has never had the time nor space to do. The tone is distinct from the rest in the book in a way that complements the whole by being a different texture from the rest. It's such an important conversation for a character whose only mentor so far is Rita (who on her best days is indifferent and most of the time is actively manipulative). My favorite moment deals with the paradox that exiting a queer "girl power" space can be needed to figure out one's own queerness.
The prose is fantastic, densely syllabic, unafraid to pack in adjectives, to verb nouns and noun verbs. It makes language feel like a game, like the quickest way to the essence of a thought was to make the words scream and twist. This is especially fitting in a story filled with psychological manipulation and loyalty past reason. Anyone who spends their time loyal to Rita ends up needing twisted words just to keep track of their own thoughts. The main characters are complex and generally unlikeable, but fascinating and really great to read. Maya is a beautiful broken wreck of a person, managing to eke out a small piece of personal growth towards the very end when everything totally goes to shit.
THE ALL-CONSUMING WORLD is a beautiful mess of broken people here to fuck shit up and probably die trying at least once or twice.
The world-building is marinated in sci-fi vibes and queer longing, generated though hyper-dense jargon alternated with declarations of laser-focused loyalty backed up by gore and plasma. It even takes the time to show a brief glimpse of how ordinary person would conduct life in this space, all without stopping the action. It's fragmented like a glass vase you drop on purpose while making smoldering eye contact with a nemesis you want to fuck. Most beautiful as it shatters but useless afterwards. Turns out the vase is Maya, and Rita is prepared to drop and rebuild her a hundred times to get what she wants.
There are several narrators who each have their own styles, it made them pretty easy to tell apart which was helpful when the story is revealed through the combination of their perspectives and they're apart for most of the book.
I loved Maya's meeting with Reha. It's this moment to breathe and contemplate, something it feels like Maya has never had the time nor space to do. The tone is distinct from the rest in the book in a way that complements the whole by being a different texture from the rest. It's such an important conversation for a character whose only mentor so far is Rita (who on her best days is indifferent and most of the time is actively manipulative). My favorite moment deals with the paradox that exiting a queer "girl power" space can be needed to figure out one's own queerness.
The prose is fantastic, densely syllabic, unafraid to pack in adjectives, to verb nouns and noun verbs. It makes language feel like a game, like the quickest way to the essence of a thought was to make the words scream and twist. This is especially fitting in a story filled with psychological manipulation and loyalty past reason. Anyone who spends their time loyal to Rita ends up needing twisted words just to keep track of their own thoughts. The main characters are complex and generally unlikeable, but fascinating and really great to read. Maya is a beautiful broken wreck of a person, managing to eke out a small piece of personal growth towards the very end when everything totally goes to shit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Blood, Gore, Medical content, Violence, Gun violence, Suicide, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Vomit
CW for eye trauma, major character death (graphic).
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