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gagereadsstuff's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Classism, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Murder, Death, Addiction, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Deadnaming, Child death, and Colonisation
artmajorese's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
While I enjoyed it, it didn't quite hit 5 stars for me. It felt both too fast and too slow. By the time I got familiar with a narrator, it changed to a different narrator in a different chapter. By the last chapter, when all the threads were tied together, I had forgotten which character was which. Things happened fast for each narrator, but the build of all information together was too slow for my taste, so that when we hit the big reveal it felt rushed rather than foreshadowed and earned.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Minor: Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Trafficking, Classism, Colonisation, Police brutality, Medical trauma, War, Genocide, and Xenophobia
doubledevour's review
- 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
Graphic: Murder, Gore, Death, Classism, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Cannibalism, Body horror, Vomit, and Blood
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Colonisation
Minor: Police brutality and Transphobia
lavendl's review against another edition
- 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
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
yavin_iv's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Body horror, and Violence
Minor: Cannibalism, Genocide, Medical content, Chronic illness, and Xenophobia
ianders's review against another edition
- 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
This format means that there isn't a lot of space for individual character arcs and growth. Yet, Sims expertly weaved a web of different and colorful characters all with their peculiar voice and personality. I thought each was distinctive and interesting in their own way, although some characters definitely made more of an impact than others. I liked the diversity of the cast.
Loyal to himself, Sims tackles hauntings and ghosts through themes of anti-capitalism, classism and human misery at the hands of those who hold power. His style and commentary are very efficient as his stances are loud and clear without being simply preachy or over simplistic: there exist obvious villainy, but no easy solution when the foundations themselves of a system are rotten.
Basically, I thought the book to be extremely validating and relatable in its observations, if bittersweet. The ending was viciously as cathartic as the prologue promised, although perhaps I would have prefered not knowing how it all ended from the start (information freely given in the premise itself, and mthus not a spoiler).
The pacing of the main story is a slow creep towards a great unravelling. The pacing of each individual character's story vary, but this is no action-oriented horror frenzy. A lot of emphasis is put on the claustrophobic atmosphere and the slow exploration of a building that is sick in its core.
I read this on audiobook (because my physical copy has yet to arrive) and I really recommand it. The audiobook is read by a full cast including the author himself with his lovely deep and dramatic voice that a lot will recognize from the podcast The Magnus Archives, which last season is currently airing and which Jonny Sims wrote.
If you are a fan of TMA, Thirteen Storeys is reminiscent of it in the best ways, although perhaps less brutal in its execution.
Somehow, the book also reminded me of episodes from something like the Twilight Zone, if that is something that appeals to you.
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Police brutality, Cannibalism, and Confinement
Minor: Transphobia, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, and Death
karinh's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Kidnapping, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement and Gore
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Deadnaming, Terminal illness, Transphobia, and Xenophobia