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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
4.5 stars
I need more trans horror in my life!! Definitely a new must-buy author for me :)
I need more trans horror in my life!! Definitely a new must-buy author for me :)
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
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:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
medium-paced
dark
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
3 1/2⭐️s rounded up for good reads
Old wounds has a lot going for it.
What a premise ! What a wonderful explor of gender through a horror lens? Set in Appalachia with cryptids?
And that cover?
Erin is instantly likable, compassionate and beautiful but unable to completely worry about her self the way that she needs to. She absorbs the brunt of the blame between the characters and its interesting to see her navigate the blows that are leveled at her but unjustly and occasionally when Max kinda has a point. Max is kind of a dick, and it’s wonderful to get to see a trans boy whos flawed and feels real. Max is frustrating and frustrated and gets to explore rage and the idea of having a person you love desperately but also push away.
This book is YA but i think it skews a little order. Feels a bit like a millennial writing about their own youth while not really really seeing how the youth has moved on. At one point a character mentions their tumblr and i know that like some kids still use it but like it just felt so 2015.
The actual monster is interesting. Ominous and looming. Full of dread and promise. How powerful is it ? What does it want?
The villians turn out to be surprisingly open minded at times and honestly if we explored the desperation to save a place you love could have bern interesting. Instead we get villans that are a bit mustache twirling but again not quite filly . This also could have worked if it was tonally a little lighter.
Ok but heres the thing.
This book has characters from Columbus Ohio. But the way Kisner talks about Columbus its clear that he hasn’t spent much if any time there.
Columbus is a city, one that pretty much commonly votes blue, has a thriving queer community and is just a big fucking city.
It makes it so clear what the author thinks about the midwest that it is quite literally distracting.
There are even places in Ohio where this characterization could work too! Its not even that im saying there is no danger for trans kinds in Columbus, just that there is a similar danger in berkley too. But it truly feels like it’s the work of someone who has no compassion for marginalized people in red states. That the only liberated people MUST be from the coast. This is only made more noticeable because it brought up over and over just how backwoods it is. And the characters will not stop brining it up.
That being said the actual story is pretty good. If had a different setting, i think it would have worked a lot better. Maybe like actually small town ohio and in 1999
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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:
No
dark
emotional
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
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
This turned out pretty sweet. I wish the monster had tied into the theming a little bit more, or at least made it more cohesive? But I liked the messy relationship between the two characters and the way that the horror developed.