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u should read this if u want a 10/10 queer horror book that has a p wild and original plot and shit
Also this is the second book ive read this year about religious groups at the end of the world which is cause by a ‘flood’- what does this say about me?
The only thing is i wanted a bit more at a couple points esp the last lil bit
‘Stand on any roof, wall, or hill tonight and watch the world slow down. Watch it empty.’
‘In what world was their God ever a benevolent one?’
‘If they believe in judgment, let them feel it.’
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic
I adored this book. I picked it up entirely on a whim during pride month on the wall of recommended reading at a small bookstore. I read (more like skimmed) the blurb on why the shop employee recommended it so highly. I love reading religious trauma inspired books, so I pretty much was sold immediately.
I devoured this book during the span of one six hour shift at my workplace. I've always been a fast reader- it's my attention span that ruins my ability to read books. This book sucked me in hard enough that occasionally I had to be prompted multiple times by customers to buy their stuff.
I don't know if I would have had a different experience with it if I had known of the trigger warnings, especially the violence, purposeful misgendering, and body horror. I've always loved zombie books, and I read those curled up in chairs in the library of my high school, so I didn't think much of the location I would be reading this book.
Public crying, for me, is the highest form of torture, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the pages of this book. The pacing, the content, the plight of the main character- all of it kept me hooked until the very end. I'm just glad I didn't snap at a kid for interrupting my reading time with a craving for Pokémon cards.
My review doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of public opinion- I have a history of really liking books and movies that had piss poor reviews and ratings- but I loved this book so much. As I've gotten older and more mentally ill, I don't get sucked into the pages of a book like a used to as a kid. I miss the ability to be absorbed in a story until it's done, and this book brought that back for me.
This book is definitely not for everyone, and all readers should be mindful of their triggers to disturbing content. But I definitely enjoyed myself, hence the five star rating.
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Gaslighting, Abandonment
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Eating disorder, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic
Yay!
Set in a world where an Apocalypse cult has pretty much succeeded, and weird virus sculpted monsters
This is a horror story in a lot of ways, not the least of which is body horror, and dysphoria. The main character is AFAB, trans- and a gay boy. Having been raised in a zealot community this leads to some serious baggage, and a lot of emotional unpacking. Other major characters include NB, Ace, POC, Autistic, and folk with a smattering of different faiths or lack thereof. This may seem weird but this is what happens when a community centre for queer kids becomes a survivalist enclave in a the end-times.
So there's a little bit of sexual content, and an anime-horror level of once-human, virus-twisted, flesh-eating demons, gun violence, and existential angst. I thank the author for the overt content warnings at the start of the book, especially all the deadnaming and misgendering.
Entertaining read, if very full-on.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Deadnaming, Gore, Transphobia, Blood
Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Self harm, Islamophobia, Alcohol
Graphic: Body horror, Deadnaming, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexual content, Cannibalism, Alcohol
I found it to be well-written and while I HATED Nick at some points (for his actions, not how the character was made),
Graphic: Body horror, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism
I loved it. I also didn't necessarily like it. And maybe those are two different things, just like we are able to love people without liking them, which makes sense for me because my mind tends to personify all books. Books have feelings, too.
This story sank it's teeth right into my religious trauma, and the resonating ache from that is why I love this story so. The character names, the Bible verses, the rules and judgements and negative self-talk. I felt, I feel, all of that. It's all very twisty and knotted up in my chest so I won't be able to say very much more than that, to be honest. Too raw, too messy.
Forget about the body horror, my issue was the Christians lol
Sorry Christians! Kind of.
Why I disconnected from this story was due to the writing itself. It's gorgeous and it's also a lot. It doesn't read like the first-person point of view of a sixteen year old kid. Unfortunately, this kept taking me out of the story.
Recommended for fans of Ava Reid. If, like me, you found yourself highlighting entire paragraphs of The Wolf and the Woodsman, or disturbingly delighted at the cannibalistic horror of Juniper & Thorn, you'll find something to enjoy in this young adult horror novel as well.
Graphic: Biphobia, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail
The handling of queer folks, POC, and neurodivergent folks was pretty spot on. Some things were a bit blunt, such as an autistic character having a stim toy being acknowledged for the first time, followed by an immediate "he's autistic" exxplanation. Neopronouns were used, which I haven't seen before. There's a clear amount of care with these characters, but it fell short a few times. Benji's deadname being in the book doesn't sit right with me (a transmasc person), as well as it being used approximately eight times. Yikes.
All in all, an excessive amount of vomit and gore aside (both of them happening Constantly), I didn't hate my experience. This story sure did happen.
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gun violence, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting
Minor: Cannibalism
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail