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youreawizardjerry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Murder, Self harm, Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, War, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Rape
danycatreader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Toxic friendship, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Medical trauma, Classism, Medical content, Body horror, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Self harm, Mental illness, Hate crime, Death, Gore, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Eating disorder, Grief, and Fatphobia
margztgz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Drug use, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, and Alcohol
Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Suicide, and Violence
bookicornia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Self harm, and Mental illness
Moderate: Animal death and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Excrement
burnyayhayley's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
The author has a very in-depth grip on characterization and is consistently excellent at giving us the correct amount of information so that all the characters feel real and important and tangible, but when you are finished you still feel slightly robbed of closure, which in the context of horror short fiction, is perfect.
However, I knocked off a star because I am not feeling so impressed by the writing or the content that I am overwhelmed—I just feel a normal amount of impressed, if that makes sense. It's excellent short fiction, but it did not always hit me where I hoped it would.
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Eating disorder, Gore, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Trafficking
georgiee_'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? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Transphobia, Vomit, and Homophobia
noel_b's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Most of the stories have a gothic feel to them and the prose (at least in Spanish) managed to describe my home country in a way that felt both familiar and alien. Comforting and disturbing. The author knows exactly how to latch on to the shadows we tend to look over, and make them deeper, darker, impossible to ignore.
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Grief, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Self harm, Police brutality, Misogyny, and Mental illness
patricia_epub's review
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Confinement, Grief, Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Eating disorder, Gore, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Emotional abuse, Drug use, and Police brutality
mackenzi'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
3.75
She tells me a story about each photo, a story she heard from a friend or a grandparent. Some of the names are the same from photograph to photograph, and I wonder if they're ever the same people displaced a little by time, still finding their way into stranger's photos just to be lost again. The stories are all a little sad, melancholic for their world-weariness, and all are frightening. Some scare me because ghosts scare me like they scare a child, some are scary because the world is just that way and I feel helpless about it.
Each story ends, abruptly, her voice fading into silence as she sets the photo on the table, making a little pile that she's already gone through. I ask what happened to the person, what happened next, and she shrugs, she doesn't know. So each story lingers, because my mind craves completion, resolution- but if you've ever stumbled onto old photos in an antique store, you know there's no resolution. You can stare at the faces in the pictures all day and never know who they really were. And each story haunts because there seems like a world of things in that story, and I want to sift through each one to try and find the meaning, the lesson, the history, the knowledge of someone who might have lived it for real.
But they're still just photographs and eventually she runs out of them, and she's putting them back in the box and she's taking the box away again, and I'm left with a handful of memories that feel startlingly real.
Graphic: Eating disorder, Misogyny, Mental illness, and Child death
Moderate: Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Sexual assault, Police brutality, Hate crime, and Sexism
MOST of these are brief mentions or descriptions. However, if it is brought up in a short story, usually the short story will revolve around those themes even if it does not describe or portray the issues explicitly. Go into this collection aware that, however brief, the intention of the author is to bring to light many real-world things in a creepy, eerie, or supernatural way, but a way that resonates deeply. In my opinion, it is mindfully executed with a deft and subtle hand. The author writes from cultural experience.readingtheother'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? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, and Death
Minor: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Eating disorder