Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Dead Collections by Isaac Fellman

21 reviews

laurenology's review

mysterious reflective slow-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

3.75

I worked as an archivist during grad school, so I appreciated some of the little inside jokes and references about that line of work peppered throughout this book. I didn't think very deeply about the larger impact of what I was doing during that time, nor was I very skilled in the work, but what Fellman eventually has to say about archiving and preservation has made me think about that part of my life and career more deeply.

It takes a while (like 60% of the way through) for anything that noticable to happen, but I found the premise and characters intriguing enough to keep on going. Glad I did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Transphobia, Blood, Outing, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Car accident

soggycedar's review

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Hate crime, Sexual content, and Transphobia

Minor: Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Outing

buttermellow's review

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

Moderate: Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Car accident, and Dysphoria

dearvillains's review

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Sexual content, Transphobia, Blood, Medical content, Lesbophobia, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Ableism, Deadnaming, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts

amy_reading_23's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

This book is an interesting one, and it definitley got me thinking. It doesn't have much of a plot but is more like a slice of life. Its about a trans vampire archivist falling in love with another queer person whilst also working through depression and questioning the liminality between life and death.

It reads more like experimental literary fiction than fantasy - the vampirism is used as a metaphor for chronic illness, living in a trans body, and being othered. If you are questioning your gender or identity then there are definitley bits of this books that can feel quite affirming. Overall it is quite a challenging book though, I wouldn't read it just for fun, but there were elements I liked. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

pobi's review

dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

A very good book, but a bit too sad and existential (and romancey) for my taste tbh. I liked the way it played with form, and it's nice to read a book about trans masc people!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Blood, Car accident, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Infidelity, and Dysphoria

necroplasm's review

dark funny reflective medium-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

3.5

another unfortunate victim of the "book recommended to me by a tiktok that pitched it as something completely different from what it actually is which causes me to not like it as much because it's just so not what i was expecting" curse, though thankfully not the most egregious example bc i did still enjoy the book! dark academia it was not, but it did have some interesting musings on gender and a neat take on vampires that i haven't really seen anything similar to before, also probably serving as a metaphor for several things, most of which probably went over my head. also the first book i've ever read that revolves around fanfic/fandom in such a prominent and  genuinely sincere way, which was also quite neat to me! hearing ao3 get mentioned in a real published work nearly made me do a spit take but i still had fun :]

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Grief, and Outing

Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Blood, Medical content, and Car accident

Minor: Deadnaming and Pregnancy

mjwhitlock18's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

I’m not sure that I knew what I was getting into with this book, and I’m still not entirely sure where I stand on it. It is ultimately a vampire story that explores gender, sexuality, identity, fandom, and the archiving of lives and ephemera. It feels more like a true autobiography than fiction. It’s raw, tangled, and at times disjointed. This queer Jewish trans male vampire meets and has a fast burning relationships with a bisexual widow, as he is archiving her dead wife’s belongings. I’m not sure that I support the romance, as it feels not entirely healthy, but I’m also not sure if I’m supposed to as a reader. This book is light on plot, heavy on dialogue and metaphors, and mostly about relationships and people figuring their shit out. Overall, it’s spooky, queer, and weird, and if that’s your vibe, give it a shot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Infidelity and Blood

Minor: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Car accident

bookishvicky's review

emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

I went into this expecting a campy vampire romance in an archival setting and instead got a beautiful metaphor about bodies and memory and connection and otherness. While I’m certainly not one to say I understand Sol’s plight (as a cis bi woman who is unfortunately not a vampire), I feel as though I was reading someone’s memoir instead of fiction, and felt connected to the inclusion of early slasher fics and what they meant in the grand scheme of fandom and author identity, how we use these stories to better understand our own. It made me feel very human, and more aware of myself. Truly an amazing read—one of those rare books that’ll make you feel just so, so deeply.  Beautiful prose, wonderful experimental formatting, and a gorgeous cover to boot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual content, Transphobia, Blood, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Deadnaming and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death, Car accident, and Outing

indeed_distract's review

funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, Medical content, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Transphobia, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Deadnaming, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Outing