Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu

8 reviews

30something_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

4.75

These visions of modern life wrestle with themes of death and technological consequences, guilt and sexuality, and unmask the contradictions that exist within all of us.

There are some absolute bangers in this collection of short stories.*
*Edit: I actually just increased the star rating. The more that I think about it, every one of these short stories were bangers in their own right. I was trying to come up with what I may not have liked but even the story that I liked least had some phenomenal moments that made my skin crawl so like... bravo?

I think the ones that resonated the most with me were:

Pre-simulation Consultation XF007867- This is like the darker side of the holodecks from Star Tek.
Time Cubes- A dystopian nightmare, honestly.
#ClimbingNation- Me, a non-thriller reader: this would be an amazing plot for a Thriller novel. I will always support women's wrongs.
Twenty Hours- Remember that Netflix show, Altered Carbon? But make it with 3D printers and the weird middle-aged white couple next door.
Bridezilla- Actually this one reminded me of an essay titled "We Swarm" by Sabrina Imbler in How Far the Light Reaches where they are discussing salps (which kind of have a similar if not entirely more benign description as the sea monster in this short story.) Totally unrelated I guess but I think about that essay a lot.

Content Warnings

knitswhilereading's review against another edition

Go to review page

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.0

Content Warnings

janicew9's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.5

Excellent short story collection, highly recommend for uncanny valley, something is off, vibes

Content Warnings

madelaine__grace's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Content Warnings

rorikae's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

'Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century' by Kim Fu is a lightly speculative short story collection that has a few standout stories and a number that I wished had gone a little bit further. I would consider this a literary fiction collection with speculative elements, often just a slightly enhanced version of our everyday lives. Fu tackles a number of subjects including grief, climate change, and abusive relationships. My favorites in the collection were those that had a little more time to develop or clearly cut to the point immediately. The collection starts with one of my favorite stories, 'Pre-Simulation Consultation XF007867,' which discusses grief and virtual reality. The collection ends with my favorite story in the entire collection, 'Do You Remember Candy,' which deals with the fallout when people can suddenly no longer derive enjoyment from eating food and how one woman seeks to recreate these lost experiences for others. Two other stories that stood out to me in the middle of the collection include, 'Twenty Hours,' which questions what one couple would do if they had a printer that would reprint them, consciousness and all, if they were to die and 'June Bugs,' where a woman fleeing an abusive relationship finds herself plagued by an infestation of June bugs at her new home.
My favorite aspects of Fu's stories are the creative ideas and how she utilizes them to explore difficult subjects. I do wish that many of these stories went further. Some were rather quick and felt as if they were getting to the true meaning of what was happening right before they abruptly ended. Though I would read more of Fu's stories in the future, I think I would seek them out individually instead of seeking out an entire collection. The pieces I highlighted are great stories that really make you think and I would highly recommend them, even if I wouldn't recommend the full collection itself to everyone. I would be interested in Fu's longer works as I think when given the time to really explore her ideas, her stories flourish.

Content Warnings

kb_sherman's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

daniellekat's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous reflective medium-paced

5.0

The best collection of short stories I have ever read. The stories were interesting and thought provoking without having to be over analyzed. The only story I didn’t like was June Bugs, just because the ending was rushed and a little lack lustre compared to the rest of the collection. Kim Fu is an excellent writer and I cannot recommend this book enough.

Content Warnings

marissab's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

A perfect weird blend of surreal premises and real emotions

Content Warnings

More...