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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It was a good book and I enjoyed it. Would I recommend it? Probably not it’s pretty weird.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
What a bizarre and beautifully sad book. It had me from the first and I was talking about it all day yesterday. I love the way it was written and made me think. I’m not sure what all I thought but I couldn’t stop wondering about what was gonna happen. What a bizarre gift this book is to the world…
dark
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
What a strange, creepy, hopeful little story. This book was recommended to me by storygraph and I chose it because it had an interesting cover. It was a very interesting but uncomfortable story about a small community where all the women have died from a fungus but a new kind of life comes from their body. It's creepy and strange with a fair amount of body horror. Overall I liked it quite a bit and would recommend it as a quick read to those who like weird books!
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Some of the most unique body horror I've experienced, in a way that was simultaneously beautiful and gut-wrenching.
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Very interesting, it was a fascinating story of men in a world where there are no women particularly how men would react to pregnancy and reproduction really thought provoking
This writing style is not for me. I couldn’t wait to finish this book, it was so hard to get through I didn’t read the bonus book. Men having sex with mushroom women, men get pregnant, some men get killed the end.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This volume contained two short stories.
I came for The Beauty (4 stars) but I stayed for Peace, Pipe (5 stars) and split the difference.
The Beauty was disgusting at times, morbid at others, and had a very nuanced take on the lack of women in the world and how gender identity was warped because of it. It had some really fascinating takes on storytelling and how it’s intertwined alongside history, on women’s rights and transgenders and sexuality and patriarchy.
I genuinely thought it was fucked up at times, I definitely didn’t pick up on everything I probably could’ve or should’ve, and I found myself feeling not necessarily fulfilled at the end, but at ease with it’s conclusion.
But I fell in love with Whiteley’s writing in Peace, Pipe. It wasn’t horror, it was more literary sci-fi which I’m not sure is a thing because I’m not sure I’ve ever actually come across it before, but I adored it regardless.
The discourse on language and the friendship that the narrator fosters with what can only be referred to as Pipe, is highly speculative in nature. You cannot be sure Pipe is a real being or if the narrator just conjures it out of loneliness in quarantine. But the relationship between the two is genuine and beautiful and was reminiscent of Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary without the desperation of survival hanging in the balance.
It was cozy and inviting when it came to their interactions, it was harsh and unforgiving when it came to the narrator’s backstory and what was effectively a darker main plot that was easily set aside in favour of the growing friendship between the two main characters.
I absolutely loved it and the ending where they part with such a bittersweet hopefulness. I think one could even call it a parting with peace, and there’s something so beautiful about it because it’s full circle into the title.
Would definitely recommend for anyone interested in the dichotomy of two very different stories tonally from the same author. She’s got some very interesting things to say and some very versatile means of telling them.
I came for The Beauty (4 stars) but I stayed for Peace, Pipe (5 stars) and split the difference.
The Beauty was disgusting at times, morbid at others, and had a very nuanced take on the lack of women in the world and how gender identity was warped because of it. It had some really fascinating takes on storytelling and how it’s intertwined alongside history, on women’s rights and transgenders and sexuality and patriarchy.
I genuinely thought it was fucked up at times, I definitely didn’t pick up on everything I probably could’ve or should’ve, and I found myself feeling not necessarily fulfilled at the end, but at ease with it’s conclusion.
But I fell in love with Whiteley’s writing in Peace, Pipe. It wasn’t horror, it was more literary sci-fi which I’m not sure is a thing because I’m not sure I’ve ever actually come across it before, but I adored it regardless.
The discourse on language and the friendship that the narrator fosters with what can only be referred to as Pipe, is highly speculative in nature. You cannot be sure Pipe is a real being or if the narrator just conjures it out of loneliness in quarantine. But the relationship between the two is genuine and beautiful and was reminiscent of Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary without the desperation of survival hanging in the balance.
It was cozy and inviting when it came to their interactions, it was harsh and unforgiving when it came to the narrator’s backstory and what was effectively a darker main plot that was easily set aside in favour of the growing friendship between the two main characters.
I absolutely loved it and the ending where they part with such a bittersweet hopefulness. I think one could even call it a parting with peace, and there’s something so beautiful about it because it’s full circle into the title.
Would definitely recommend for anyone interested in the dichotomy of two very different stories tonally from the same author. She’s got some very interesting things to say and some very versatile means of telling them.
I read this book for a presentation in a class and it was bizarre. To me, the writing felt a lot less poetic and a lot more disjointed, and it was really hard to follow the point. So, so odd.