Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Thirteen Storeys by Jonathan Sims

14 reviews

centrifugepolitics's review

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gore, Cannibalism, Blood, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror, Terminal illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Colonisation and Alcoholism

gagereadsstuff'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

3.5

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Content Warnings

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

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

rachelunabridged's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Body horror, Death, Cannibalism, Violence, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Confinement

Minor: Deadnaming, Alcohol, Transphobia, and Colonisation

bookcheshirecat's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.5

“This world was designed to generate winners and losers, and it showed a lack of character to wish yourselves a winner without accepting what it does to those who lose.” 

➽ I can't believe I waited this long to finally read Thirteen Storeys, as it was amazing! I was so excited for Jonathan Sims' debut novel because I loved The Magnus Archive, the podcast he was a writer on. I'm normally not really into Horror but TMA got me super obsessed and I loved the way it was written. Luckily, he's also fantastic at writing novels and just really writes Horror in a way that draws me in. Thirteen Storeys is focused on Banyan Court, a huge complex that was built by the eccentric billionaire Tobias Fell, who has become a hermit and rarely leaves his penthouse anymore. The story starts with a newspaper entry about his sudden death following a dinner party with 12 guests ... who have no idea what happened. We're slowly working our way back by following different people in the weeks leading up to the dinner party and the strange experiences with Banyan Court.

➽ This feels more like an anthology, as every story is about a different character's life and how Banyan Court haunts them in one way or another. Still, after a while you begin to see the connections between the stories and I loved figuring out what was going on! The dinner party itself only happens at the very end, but I personally didn't mind that as the setup was intriguing and gave us some insight into Tobias, his dubious past and the secrets of the building. The people he invites for the party couldn't be more different, as the complex has two sides. One is for the rich people, but the back is hidden away and full of cheap apartments for those who can't afford better. There were so many intriguing stories, we've got a young woman who only works the night shift, a couple horrified by a mysterious stain in their wall that won't come out, a startup CEO whose own technology turns against him and an art collector who gets obsessed with a painting. There was always a sinister undercurrent to the stories, especially when it comes to the concierge who deals with an intense coworker and a plumber who has been noticing that the pipes don't work like they should. Every single story left me intrigued and I'm definitely excited for more books by Jonny!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Gore, Murder, Blood, Classism, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Colonisation, Transphobia, Drug abuse, and Deadnaming

phantompansy's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Gore, Body horror, and Blood

Moderate: Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Confinement, Mental illness, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Transphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, and Addiction

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

evelphysicist's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

A tense and intriguing read. I really enjoyed the style of this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Blood, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Violence, Murder, and Body horror

Moderate: Slavery, Cannibalism, Deadnaming, and Medical trauma

Minor: Child death, Alcoholism, Grief, and Colonisation

artmajorese's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

• 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

If you enjoyed the Magnus Archives, you'll probably enjoy this. Jonathan Sims stays true to his brand of spookiness. He also sticks with his characteristic tendency to build slowly on a narrative through small episodic arcs.  

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.   

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Content Warnings

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

songofthewolfy's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Excellent debut novel by Jonathan Sims! I loved The Magnus Archives, and thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I did feel that the end went a little fast for how much of a build-up there was to the climax. But I found it very enjoyable, and can't wait for more from him!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Murder, Police brutality, Blood, Body horror, Torture, Classism, Mental illness, Alcohol, Colonisation, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, and Cannibalism

Sims uses the listed content warnings to deliver a scathing critique of society. However, he does not shy away from depictions of mental illness, gore, and trauma. Please use discretion.