Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Feed Them Silence by Lee Mandelo

29 reviews

xosirenox's review

emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Gore, Medical content, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity, Vomit, Mass/school shootings, and Dysphoria

livlamentloathe's review against another edition

dark reflective fast-paced

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

2.0

I previously read Mandelo's Summer Sons, and The Woods all Black. I enjoyed the former and loved the later, so I was surprised not to like this one at all.

Anything you gain from reading this story could be assumed from the start. The struggling relationship of Sean and her wife gets worse but comes to a resolution. Sean's team of scientists endanger one of the last pack of wolves, and Sean only begins to care about this possibility once neuro-linked. That's it. There is more depth to Sean's thought-process and storyline but if you have any assumptions about what will occur in this book, you're probably right.

Sean's wife believes Sean underwent a form of growth and change over the course of the book, but if that was a positive thing, then I massively misunderstood the book. I don't believe Sean learned anything she couldn't have gained through empathy and meaningful conversations with her wife. Much of their fighting could've been resolved if Sean had cared enough to argue her side. It felt like she was a ghost moving through things that happened to her. As if she wasn't the architect of her own failures. That said, Riya, Sean's wife, was just as culpable for decisions she made during their relationship. The corrosion of their marriage was toxic and two-sided.

Every book doesn't need positive change, but I don't think this book included change, period. I don't believe Sean learned anything. 

Does the dog die?

Yes.

Even worse, she's killed by the venture capital funders when the project goes awry.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Toxic relationship, and Medical trauma

Minor: Animal cruelty and Infidelity

lizardgod's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Cursing and Racism

aromarrie's review

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.25

sci-fi horror at its finest. 

the thing i love the most about the story is that it really felt like it was written in dual pov….you didn’t just get sean’s perspective, but also the wolf that’s so pivotal to this research study that’s being done. 

the combination of invasive technology and vivid descriptions of the cold & barren woods through another species’ eyes added to the surreal atmosphere, i feel.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Infidelity and Sexism

wandererlila's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective fast-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? Yes

4.5

A thoughtful critique of man's relationship with nature.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Infidelity

scifi_rat's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexism and Vomit

readingpicnic's review against another edition

3.75

Failing sapphic marriages in books make me sooo sad (similar to Our Wives Under the Sea). This story posed very interesting questions about ethics, conservation, and intimacy. The main character was genuinely so morally gray, and I did NOT support most of her behaviors, but my discomfort and disgust with her actions and thoughts also intrigued me. You can see her growth throughout the story as she learns the cost of her selfishness with her work project and her ambivalence towards and unappreciation of her wife. Their relationship was so complicated but felt very real. It gave me hope that after everything, they were still working on it, even though they had both made mistakes and had miscommunications. The wolf scenes were so visceral and strange, but also cool. I could definitely see this type of scenario posed by the book taking place in real life where a big corporation funds something like this in order to monetize it to the masses as a VR experience. What a trip.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Violence, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexism, and Terminal illness

Minor: Racism

charlotteer's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

3.0

The writing style felt almost lyrical to begin with but towards the middle/end it became more repetitive, with the same words or a similar description used noticeably more than once or twice. 

The plot was interesting and was explored well in its 105 pages but I felt as if it fell short of a few expectations and was a little lack-lustre because of this. 

Overall, a little too monotonous for me but I did enjoy reading it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Medical content

Moderate: Animal death, Gore, Infidelity, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Racism, Sexism, and Alcohol

blacksphinx's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.5

First of all, this is NOT a horror novella and I'm not sure why it keeps winding up on lists of horror stories. It is a sci-fi novella focused around a failing marriage between two academics and a research project where our narrator gets to experience what it's like to be a wolf.

Despite not being horror, I think if you liked Our Wives Under The Sea you might like this. It's a different take on "failing sapphic marriage," if you can handle a narrator who is a self-centered racist dick. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Violence, and Medical content

Moderate: Cursing, Racism, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Grief

Minor: Death

catalyst226's review

dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

A darker story than what I've been reading lately about a scientist conducting a study on a pack of wolves. She uses a neural link to observe one in the pack. Cool science fiction with an interesting dose of interpersonal relationships.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Infidelity