Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Dreadnought by April Daniels

10 reviews

gameoftomes's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Amazing. The book really gives a payoff for its superhero genre, transgender representation, and first person POV. It uses all of these well, and towards a conclusion with physical and emotional stakes involved. 

There are good action sequences, a bit of gore, and a good bit of body horror. But none of it overwhelms the novel. The supers don’t feel regurgitated and cliché. It feels like it could fit in with comic book superheroes, yet isn’t weighed down with tropes. The world of superheroes and hypertech is fleshed out without being exposition heavy. 

Warning that there is a significant amount of transphobia, including slurs, deadnaming, emotional abuse, and parents kicking out their 15 year old kid. But none of this stops main character Danielle from being super, from being flawed, from being a beacon of hope. Individuals are not a monolith, and I think at the author is transgender herself helps. 

This is a first person perspective YA novel that feels like you’re in the head of a real teenager. Danny clearly had reactions with a lot of self-hate because of how actively awful her dad is and how passively awful her mom is. So negative self-talk happens in stressful situations. Her journey as a superhero starts out as finally getting her body to match her gender identity, then fighting crime becomes an escape from reality, and finally starts to become a community, a newfound family. 

I honestly came in thinking I would be lightly enjoyable fun, but I’m really blown away with the characters, world-building, and balance of emotional, fun, and tense moments. I might have to break my book buying ban to grab the sequel. 

9/10 objectively a good time.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Homophobia, Murder, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Abandonment, Blood, and Body horror

talonsontypewriters's review

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced

• 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Child abuse, Violence, Dysphoria, Gun violence, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, and Sexism

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Murder, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Body horror, Bullying, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Death, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Minor: War, Ableism, Cancer, Fatphobia, Drug use, Addiction, Vomit, Rape, Racism, and Death of parent

zoepagereader's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I am happy I didn’t bail like I was planning to. After about 80 pages of casual references to suicidal thoughts and a nonstop parade of dreams getting crushed I was about done. But I kept going and after about 100 pages, the book got a lot better. Though I have to say, having a villain’s plan be a almost carbon copy of an Agents of SHIELD season really took me out of it. Even though the book came out before that season, it was still disappointing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Violence, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, and Outing

Moderate: Body horror, Medical content, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, and Fatphobia

Minor: Grief

karcitis's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Lesbophobia, Gun violence, Violence, Transphobia, Emotional abuse, and Death

Moderate: Murder, Medical content, Blood, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Sexual harassment, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Outing, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Cursing, and Classism

Minor: Self harm, Rape, Bullying, Fatphobia, Body horror, Deadnaming, and Vomit

jjjreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Bullying, Physical abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, Infertility, Blood, Body shaming, Sexism, Transphobia, Child abuse, Classism, Deadnaming, Gun violence, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Body horror, Car accident, Chronic illness, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Death, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, and Addiction

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Genocide, Child death, Self harm, Slavery, Gaslighting, Vomit, and Cancer

overbooked207's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

📖 Dreadnought & Sovereign by April Daniels Book Review 📖

3rd and 4th books of August 2022 and 20th and 21st of the year:

“I see a world that is terrified of me. Terrified of someone who would reject manhood. Terrified of a girl who knows who she is and what she's capable of. They are small, and they are weak, and they will not hurt me ever again.” - April Daniels.

These books have fantastic trans, lesbian, queer, abuse survivor, mental health/illness, anxiety, PTSD, and more representation, great writing and world-building, and inventive, well-written, and brutal action/fight scenes! If there’s anything I love in books, it’s complex characters, and this series' main character, Danny, is an especially amazing and complex character. The book showcases her bravery, power, resilience, anger, strengths, weaknesses, and everything in between in such a good way, and the characters felt so real. I liked the second book even more than the first, and I definitely recommend picking these up, especially if you love superhero movies or shows like The Boys, Invincible, Umbrella Academy, etc.! 

TWs for Dreadnought: transphobia, slurs, homophobia, deadnaming, misgendering, misogyny, medical content, violence, parental/domestic/child abuse, homelessness/being kicked out of the house for being trans/queer, anxiety, death, dysphoria, cursing, bullying, blood, body horror, alcohol, alcoholism, self-image issues/negative internal voice, PTSD, sexual harassment, toxic friendship, and description of injuries.

TWs for Sovereign: transphobia, slurs, homophobia, alcoholism, self-harm, deadnaming, misgendering, misogyny, misandry, medical content/trauma, violence, vomit, abuse, cursing, bullying, blood, body horror, alcohol, alcoholism, homelessness, ableism, kidnapping, torture, imprisonment, anxiety, self-image issues/negative internal voice, PTSD, mass death, and description of injuries📚🎧🦸‍♀️🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Grief, Genocide, Body shaming, Body horror, Torture, Lesbophobia, Blood, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Death, Confinement, Bullying, Violence, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Medical content, Homophobia, Dysphoria, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Gore, Deadnaming, and Cursing

lipstickitotheman's review

adventurous emotional 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Outing, Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Gore, Transphobia, Violence, and Deadnaming

Minor: Eating disorder, Confinement, Dysphoria, Hate crime, Homophobia, Bullying, Infertility, and Lesbophobia

wynterwonderland's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Medical content, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Violence, and Medical trauma

Minor: Rape and Sexual harassment

valereads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Sexism, Transphobia, and Violence

bardic_llama's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Child abuse

Moderate: Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Medical content, and Misogyny