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booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
3.5
A PHOENIX FIRST MUST BURN celebrates Black Girl Magic in a literal and metaphorical sense. I like a few of the stories, but the overall collection was uneven. Several end abruptly in a way that feels like they needed more space to develop. There were a few standouts which make the collection worth perusing. “When Life Hands You A Lemon Fruitbomb” is the collection’s opener. I love it, if the whole anthology had been like it I’d be raving over it. “A Hagiography of Starlight” is one where it felt complete but I want there to be more, it’s a fantastic world which I want to explore. “Melie” inverts several "chosen one" tropes in some cool ways, with an irreverent feeling. “Letting The Right One In” is marred only by referencing books by an author who wasn’t widely known to suck when this collection was written (though it’s not the only one to do so). "Sequence" is a good choice for ending the anthology, it's excellently written and well-placed in the collection.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Slavery, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Ableism, Infidelity, Gore, Gun violence, War, Death, Racism, Bullying, Religious bigotry, Alcoholism, Violence, Colonisation, Abandonment, Grief, Excrement, Murder, Torture, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Child death, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Minor: Body shaming, Xenophobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Animal death
"When Life Hands You a Lemon Fruitbomb" - CW for confinement, torture, war, death. "Gilded" - CW for pregnancy, blood, injury detail, slavery, parental death, death. "Wherein Abigail Fields Recalls Her First Death and, Subsequently, Her Best Life" - CW for racism, gun violence, injury detail, murder, death. "The Rules of the Land" - CW for vomit, alcohol, alcoholism, domestic abuse, pregnancy, parental death. Minor CW for xenophobia, sexual content, animal death, war. "A Hagiography of Starlight" - CW for adult/minor relationship. Minor CW for sexual content. "Melie" - CW for blood, violence, war, death. Minor CW for body shaming, self harm, murder. "The Goddess Provides" - CW for grief, sexism, religious bigotry, confinement, excrement, fire/fire injury, gore, blood, violence, injury detail, self harm, torture, murder, parental death, death. "Hearts Turned to Ash" - CW for grief, toxic relationship. "Letting the Right One In" - CW for abandonment. Minor CW for sexual content, mental illness, racism, homophobia. Brief Harry Potter reference. "Tender-Headed" - CW for toxic relationship, toxic friendship. "Kiss the Sun" - CW for colorism, racism, ableism, bullying, infidelity, fire, colonization "The Actress" - Minor CW for sexual content, racism. Brief Harry Potter reference. "The Curse of Love" - CW for parental death, death. "All the Time in the World" - CW for racism. Minor CW for sexual content, war, death. "The Witch's Skin" - CW for sexism, abandonment, sexual content, grief, pregnancy, blood, gore, murder, war, parental death, child death, death. "Sequence" - No major CWs.talonsontypewriters's review
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Slavery, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Murder, Death of parent, Blood, Confinement, Body horror, War, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Hate crime, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Gun violence, Medical content, Racism, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Gore, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, and Xenophobia
Minor: Self harm, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Rape, and Torture
"When Life Hands You a Lemon Fruitbomb" contains war, death, violence, and mentions of torture. "Gilded" contains slavery, racism, injury, violence, confinement, body horror, and death. "Wherein Abigail Fields Recalls Her First Death And, Subsequently, Her Best Life" contains gun violence, racism, death, murder, and body horror. "The Rules of the Land" contains domestic/child abuse, violence, alcoholism, and fire. "A Hagiography of Starlight" contains confinement and a relationship between a teenager and an immortal being, which is implied to be deceitful on the latter's end but romanticized from the former's perspective. "Melie" contains animal death, violence, fire, and mentions of xenophobia and fatphobia. "The Goddess Provides" contains death, religious bigotry, fire, violence, gore, implied misogyny, unsanitary, confinement, suicidal ideation, and mention of ritualistic self-harm/bloodletting. "Hearts Turned to Ash" contains body horror, gore, blood, implied sexual content, and smoking. "Letting the Right One In" contains depression, blood, injury, and mentioned suicide and homophobia. "Tender-Headed" contains toxic friendship, tense family dynamics, and spiders. "Kiss the Sun" contains colorism, body horror, fire, violence, sexual comments, and mentions of infidelity and sexual assault/rape. "The Actress" contains fire, racism, injury in a flashback, and mentions of cancer, gun violence, and alcoholism in the context of in-universe fiction. "All the Time in the World" contains racism, deliberate pollution, and mentions of gun violence, death, and police brutality. "The Witch's Skin" contains racism, death, murder, grief, pregnancy, body horror, gore, and implied sexual content.
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