Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Dead Collections by Isaac Fellman

8 reviews

thecolouryes's review against another edition

challenging hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

This was a fantastic book. It took me much longer to read than I expected; not because the plot is slow, exactly, things happen at a decent pace, but because there was a lot of content to chew on. It's ultimately a book about identity and choosing to live as opposed to just not being dead. The vampirism is a metaphor, but not in the way you think. (It's a metaphor. It's always a metaphor, even if the creator didn't intend it as a metaphor.) 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Outing, Confinement, Mental illness, Blood, Dysphoria, and Transphobia

Minor: Sexism, Grief, Sexual content, Lesbophobia, Body shaming, Car accident, Deadnaming, Death, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship

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

Moderate: Infidelity and Blood

Minor: Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual assault

solspringsreads's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.25

I have really complicated feelings about this book. I spent a large portion of my time reading this book just sending my friend live texts trying to figure out how I felt and why I felt it—there’s a lot of gender discussion that made me feel not great, though it was clearly reflective of the author’s own relationship with gender and sexuality and didn’t seem to come from a place of intentionally triggering intense dysphoria in potential readers (AKA it’s not necessarily the book, it’s me)—and very little time just… enjoying the book.
Even so, the actual plot of this book is pretty interesting. It somehow manages to be exactly as advertised (vampire archivist!) and not at all what is advertised and then also more than what is advertised. The relationship between the main characters burns incredibly fast and is very intense, and like many other readers, I’m not sure I really… liked the main relationship. Not that I’m even sure that I’m supposed to? It’s complicated.
This is a book about very messy, flawed people trying to work through their chaos together. It’s not trying to be healthy or idealized, and that’s pretty great! We deserve to have messy queer characters figuring out who they are. I really appreciated what this book was doing thematically, even if the execution wasn’t my favorite. This book can also be very emotionally taxing if you, too, are a messy, flawed person trying to work through your chaos. Please check the trigger warnings before picking this one up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Sexism, Outing, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Biphobia, Hate crime, Transphobia, Misogyny, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Deadnaming, Infidelity, Blood, and Toxic relationship

woweewhoa's review

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Transphobia, Sexual content, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Medical content, Outing, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Pregnancy, Alcohol, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship

uranaishi's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Ableism, Chronic illness, Confinement, Dysphoria, Transphobia, Medical content, Outing, and Sexual content

Moderate: Body horror, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Deadnaming, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Alcohol and Car accident

lunacurlypaws's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? No

5.0

A beautiful book! I'm very glad I read it, even if it made me cry for many reasons. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria

Moderate: Blood, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, and Medical content

_autumn_'s review against another edition

medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Gore, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Outing, and Medical content

Minor: Car accident and Dysphoria

middumullu's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

paper copy. i was really interested in the premise of it. i liked the exploration of fandom a lot and thought that was fun. also was interested in the ways that the characters explored and played with gender. again the analogies were not subtle but they still were solid. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Blood, Chronic illness, Medical content, Outing, and Sexual content

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, and Death