Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

32 reviews

cierrareads's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Grief, and Death

fraise's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Infidelity, Racism, Xenophobia, Child death, Cancer, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Terminal illness, Death, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Pregnancy, Classism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Sexism

mar's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Death, and Medical content

Minor: Body horror and Pregnancy

emdcairou's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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: Child death, Body horror, Death of parent, Terminal illness, and Death

Minor: Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death, and Grief

lilacwhisker's review against another edition

emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

A must-read. My new favorite book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Abandonment and Addiction

oaxara's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Terminal illness, Grief, Child death, and Body horror

Moderate: Suicide, Animal death, Chronic illness, and Death of parent

danikajoan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-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

4.5

Wow wow reading this directly after Sea of Tranquility made for a very interesting pandemic/sci-fi double-feature 😬 I really liked this one, especially once the stories began to weave together. It is MUCH more sad than I was expecting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Chronic illness, Animal death, Child death, Medical trauma, Grief, Body horror, Death, Medical content, and Death of parent

unsuccessfulbookclub's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This #PlagueNovelPals book was surprisingly uplifting and in many ways a balm for our current world. It is super dark and sad - it is about a plague brought on by climate change - but it is also about humanity’s ability to persevere, to invent and to eventually overcome. It’s an epic story built through small human interactions. My friend Meg described it as a combination of Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy and Neal Stephenson’s Seveneves and I wholeheartedly agree with that assessment. I would also sprinkle a little bit of Chuck Palahniuk’s macabre zaniness and unlikeable narrators to the mix.

I enjoyed the format for this book - it’s a series of short narratives that are loosely connected rather than a straight through plot. In that way it is quiet and helps you experience the world Nagamatsu built in a very relatable way, through each character’s eyes. The stories end up being more connected than they initially seem but the end and that speaks to a beautiful restraint from Nagamatsu. The writing is impeccable. Each of the characters is interesting and understandable, and you visit many locations and situations on Earth and throughout the universe. I liked that this book was emotionally impactful and dealt heavily with grief and death but it wasn’t gory in the way some books like this are. It’s an emotional sledgehammer but it also puts you back together when it’s done.

👍🏻Recommended! Plague novel/science fiction fans will love this book. Please mind the CW, it is heavy content but in the end it is very hopeful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Death, Drug use, Medical content, Xenophobia, Body horror, Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Pregnancy, Self harm, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

hmatt's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

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

3.5

Little thoughts that I'll have every intention to assemble more later but probably will not:

• I like the idea of a narrative created through short stories where some of the stories intersect, but this wasn't pulled off with 100% effectiveness. Maybe 60%. I was really invested in some stories and just not at all interested in others. I think fewer stories could have achieved the same effect, and I feel like the author could have done a bit more to interweave them. Also, I was a bit out on some of the stories that go off the deep end a bit, including the last one (I wanted to think it was cool, but it felt too convenient and also self-indulgent).
• I commend the choice to use an ensemble cast for the audiobook where the narrators were meant to sound like the (sometimes obviously racialized) POV characters, but some of the chosen narrators were, um, not very good at narrating.
• I remain solidly "pro" on pandemic fiction.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Terminal illness, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, and Suicide

val_so_'s review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Child death, Grief, and Medical content

Moderate: Body horror