Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Thirteen Storeys by Jonathan Sims

8 reviews

itsmeautievee's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

I really enjoy the authors work on The Magnus Archives, which in my opinion is a faster pace than this book. 

The story is good and maybe it was the audio performances that made it difficult for me to listen to. 

I enjoyed the story as an Allegory. I don't know that I'd read it again but I did enjoy it and I would recommend it to others. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Cannibalism, and Classism

Moderate: Violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Chronic illness

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Physical abuse, and Deadnaming

Does contains scenes depicting children experiencing distress

nebulous_cat's review

dark mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Mental illness, Murder, and Torture

Minor: Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Confinement, Deadnaming, and Gaslighting

rayne_fall's review

dark mysterious tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Confinement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Cannibalism, Body horror, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Child death, and Drug use

Minor: Transphobia, Colonisation, Chronic illness, Homophobia, and Suicide

One of the ghosts is a chronically ill older man who was due to be evicted after his partner died and it's implied that he took his own life as a result of this. It's also mentioned that the same character didn't receive anything from his partner's estate as a result of either a lack of legal recognition or his partner's family being homophobic

One of the main characters gave his digital assistant control of everything in his apartment. The assistant becomes haunted and acts outside of its programming, eventually imprisoning him in the apartment and replacing him with a doppelganger who's supposed to be a better version of him

Another main character experiences severe insomnia and becomes dependent on a fictional medicine (which was recalled due to side effects) in order to sleep

gracecrandall's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Classism, Violence, Terminal illness, Colonisation, Murder, Gore, Police brutality, Confinement, Blood, Abandonment, Body horror, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Transphobia, Death of parent, Racism, Deadnaming, Grief, and Deportation

bsmucker's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.0

As a fan of The Magnus Archives, I was eager to support Jonny Sims and looking forward to more of his amazing work. That being said, Thirteeen Storeys felt more like a PG-13 rated short story collection written for a broader audience.

The way that Jonny Sims manages to build toward and deliver a payoff through an Agatha Christie-style reveal is one of the most satisfying aspects of his work (again, see The Magnus Archives, which I truly regard as one of the best pieces of fiction I've ever experienced). The ending of this book is no different, but it felt a bit laborious getting there. Each story ended predictably in service of the overarching narrative, but it made the weaker stories feel more like

"Come on, just get to the character receiving their invitation already!"

Again, I cannot express enough admiration for Jonny Sims and his talent, but, even though Thirteen Storeys delivered a satisfying conclusion, the individual stories felt more like chapters out of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Jonny's earned my support because I eagerly anticipate more of his work, but don't expect the same level of suspense, mystery, and horror as The Magnus Archives if you, like me, are looking for anything to fill the void it has left.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Chronic illness, Violence, Addiction, and Cannibalism

lavendl's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cannibalism, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, and Police brutality

Minor: Cursing, Xenophobia, Transphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Deadnaming, and Genocide

abookandaspotoftea's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, and Murder

Moderate: Cannibalism, Torture, and Violence

yavin_iv's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Gore, Blood, Body horror, and Violence

Minor: Cannibalism, Genocide, Medical content, Chronic illness, and Xenophobia