Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Vol. 1 by Emil Ferris

10 reviews

orlagal's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective relaxing tense 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: Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Lesbophobia, Cursing, Classism, Chronic illness, Rape, Misogyny, Mental illness, Gun violence, Gore, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Hate crime, Grief, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Panic attacks/disorders, Genocide, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Excrement, Transphobia, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Deportation, Cultural appropriation, Alcoholism, Trafficking, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Torture, Stalking, Drug abuse, War, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Child death, Antisemitism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Cancer, Racial slurs, Pedophilia, Medical content, Confinement, Colonisation, Child abuse, Body horror, Blood, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Drug use, Violence, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Xenophobia, Slavery, Racism, Physical abuse, and Murder

nmcannon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

 Back in…2019…I read this amazing blog post by Casey the Candian Lesbrarian about the best books she’d read that year. My Favorite Thing is Monsters was on it, and I put it on my TBR, so future!Natalie would remember. Future!Natalie came through.

Karen Reyes is a ten year old girl obsessed with horror movie monsters. With bullies, a best friend lost to homophobia (still alive, but heavily forced into the closet by parents), and the stress of working class ‘60s Chicago, she has a A Lot to process. And that’s before her upstairs neighbor Anka is murdered, her older brother becomes the prime suspect, and her mom gets a cancer diagnosis. Trusty sketchbook and fedora in tow, Reyes decides to figure out whodunit. What she doesn’t bargain for are tapes of Anka telling her life story in Nazi Germany, rife with parental abuse, rape, and pedophilia.

The entire, hefty book of My Favorite Thing is Monsters is styled as Reyes’ journal and sketchbook. The art is GORGEOUS. The book is art and art is the book. I was reminded of coffee table books, which are set out to entertain guests. Then again, the subject matter is not for the light of heart. Ferris pulls no punches, and her heroine’s lives are dark. A serious dead dove; don’t eat situation. I thought the story would focus more on the intersection of queerness and horror, and it does to a certain extent. There’s just a whole lot more. Anka’s flashbacks take up more pages, which makes sense because Reyes is ten and Anka died in her fifties. While Anka and Reyes are twin pole stars, the other characters aren’t neglected at all. The depth of character is truly incredible and incredibly colorful.

Despite the grim subject matter, there’s a thread of youthful hope throughout the story. If you can grasp it and hold tight, I highly, highly recommend Ferris’ masterwork. My Favorite Thing is Monsters is a beautiful, heart-wrenching magnum opus.

Casey’s blog post: https://caseythecanadianlesbrarian.wordpress.com/2019/01/08/my-2018-year-in-reading-favourite-books-of-the-year-most-memorable-character-best-cover-and-more/

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Murder, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Rape, Outing, Misogyny, Mental illness, Grief, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Deportation, Death, Death of parent, Cursing, Child abuse, Antisemitism, Alcohol, War, Vomit, Violence, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Terminal illness, Cancer, Medical content, Dementia, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, and Classism

I'd say the majority of the CWs are period-typical considering the setting is pre-Holocaust, Holocaust, and 1960s working class Chicago. Reyes is a young, queer woman of color, and she experiences period-typical racism, lesbophobia, classism, and misogyny.

amazelan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Genocide, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Gun violence, Violence, Cancer, Death of parent, Murder, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Deportation, Body horror, Bullying, Grief, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Death

krys_kilz's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

This graphic novel is super unique and the artwork is truly NEXT LEVEL. It's crosshatched and drawn with ballpoint pen, which gives it a style and color palette unlike any graphic novel or comic I've read before. I loved that it was written as the main character's notebook and enjoyed the memorabilia and famous paintings included throughout.

The main character and narrator, Karen Reyes, warms my little queer heart. I love how unapologetically weird she is, how full of curiosity and spunk. I appreciated all the LGBTQ characters and the pro-SWer sentiment. With the body horror subplot, you could definitely read this as a trans narrative too. 

The use of horror and multiple meanings of what makes a monster was also incredibly powerful. There is some sharp social critique / political analysis woven throughout that is really striking in conversation with the artwork. I also appreciated the threads comparing trauma to being haunted.

There is a lot of heavy content and I agree that the narrative was a bit scattered at times, but overall I loved this book and am excited to read Volume II.

tw: adult/minor relationship, pedophilia, antisemitism, Holocaust, cancer, rape 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Cancer, Pedophilia, Murder, Rape, Child abuse, and Genocide

Moderate: Blood, Sexual content, and Racism

Minor: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Body horror, and Bullying

literarylion's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

Gorgeous, unique artwork, compelling story, fascinating characters -- this is the best graphic novel I've read in a long time.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Cancer, Death of parent, Genocide, Hate crime, Murder, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

Minor: Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Pedophilia, and Racial slurs

aerialcataloger's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Antisemitism, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Murder, Pedophilia, and Sexual content

melaniereadsbooks's review

dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

The illustrations in this book are absolutely beautiful! The content is very difficult. It is a lot of sadness upon sadness without much respite at all, expect in a few small places.

The characters are very interesting and I really enjoyed reading about their stories. I know that parts of this are inspired by true events.

I will definitely read the sequel when it comes out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Body shaming, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Violence

boy_topics's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This book is heart-breaking and can be hard to read. Its super queer and you can definitely do trans readings of it as well. The art style is one of a kind. I took some stars off because there is a lot of suspense that leads to a not so conclusive ending that seemed kind of rushed. Too many loose endings for my liking. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Trafficking

enbygolem's review

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking

Moderate: Homophobia, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, and Terminal illness

Minor: Body horror and Body shaming

bigcheese's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

'My Favourite Thing is Monsters,' was recommended by this now dead podcast (harassment claims on a host). What a charming, dark, impressive graphic novel. Totally cute, but disturbing, and full of love. Just read it, even if you don't do graphic novels, like me.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Child abuse, Violence, and Xenophobia