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A review by dehydratedfarmer
The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo
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? It's complicated
2.0
TLDR: The trans romance promised in the synopsis is between the 30-year-old main character and an 18-year-old boy with trauma. If the book had been advertised as "trans age-gap monster-fucking Appalachian small-town religious bigotry historical revenge horror," it would have reached its ideal audience.
I loved Summer Sons, and I really wanted to love this book. Transmasc/T4T Appalachian gothic horror sounded like the book of my dreams, and that is indeed a true descriptor for The Woods All Black, but there were a couple things I couldn't get past.
I'd taken a look at the content warnings previously, but I didn't discover an important detail until too late. There were warning signs when the main character Leslie was first revealed to be 30, and later, Stevie as 18, but it still caught me off guard later on because I simply didn't think the story would go there. Leslie and Stevie start a sexual relationship, all the while with Leslie continuing to refer to Stevie as "boy" and "youth." While Stevie is technically a legal adult, the severe age gap personally made me uncomfortable, especially considering Stevie's vulnerable and traumatized status (which becomes increasingly clear as his backstory is revealed). My bad for not doing enough research in an attempt not to spoil the book for myself, I guess.
Structurally, The Woods All Black seems to meander like the many backwoods trails described within it, while the advertised horror remains an underlying element that feels more like creepy atmospheric background than active suspense — though it did ramp up toward the end. The trans representation was good, if painful to read in a setting constrained by 1920s bigotry, and it was interesting to experience the perspective of a trans person before much of the modern-day language to describe queer identities was available. The book's atmosphere feels true to its historical setting, touching upon issues of oppression and societal expectations common to that era, but many of the characters were flat and lacked defining features, while the overarching plot was vague and largely directionless.
Oh, and there was graphic monster fucking. Multiple pages of it. Which wasn't even what bothered me, just was completely unexpected in a huh, well that's happening now kind of way. If the book had been advertised as "trans age-gap monster-fucking Appalachian small-town religious bigotry historical revenge horror," it would have reached its ideal audience, which was not me, unfortunately. Someone will dearly love this book, and I'm happy for them.
I loved Summer Sons, and I really wanted to love this book. Transmasc/T4T Appalachian gothic horror sounded like the book of my dreams, and that is indeed a true descriptor for The Woods All Black, but there were a couple things I couldn't get past.
I'd taken a look at the content warnings previously, but I didn't discover an important detail until too late. There were warning signs when the main character Leslie was first revealed to be 30, and later, Stevie as 18, but it still caught me off guard later on because I simply didn't think the story would go there. Leslie and Stevie start a sexual relationship, all the while with Leslie continuing to refer to Stevie as "boy" and "youth." While Stevie is technically a legal adult, the severe age gap personally made me uncomfortable, especially considering Stevie's vulnerable and traumatized status (which becomes increasingly clear as his backstory is revealed). My bad for not doing enough research in an attempt not to spoil the book for myself, I guess.
Structurally, The Woods All Black seems to meander like the many backwoods trails described within it, while the advertised horror remains an underlying element that feels more like creepy atmospheric background than active suspense — though it did ramp up toward the end. The trans representation was good, if painful to read in a setting constrained by 1920s bigotry, and it was interesting to experience the perspective of a trans person before much of the modern-day language to describe queer identities was available. The book's atmosphere feels true to its historical setting, touching upon issues of oppression and societal expectations common to that era, but many of the characters were flat and lacked defining features, while the overarching plot was vague and largely directionless.
Oh, and there was graphic monster fucking. Multiple pages of it. Which wasn't even what bothered me, just was completely unexpected in a huh, well that's happening now kind of way. If the book had been advertised as "trans age-gap monster-fucking Appalachian small-town religious bigotry historical revenge horror," it would have reached its ideal audience, which was not me, unfortunately. Someone will dearly love this book, and I'm happy for them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Homophobia, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, and Pregnancy