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A review by saturdayslaughter
The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo
dark
tense
medium-paced
4.25
It was so cool to see all this old timey trans stuff! I had a great time following this war veteran invert through rural town hell. I didn’t really go in expecting erotica, I wish I had, I could have enjoyed anticipating it, but anyway that part was good. The story really ramped up for me, and that climax (ha)! Blood and guts and monster sex!
(was kind of wild for the epilogue to put them back in an context I recognized where they weren’t being immediately threatened, it made the age dynamic suddenly way more apparent. not a bad thing! but an interesting thing)
I did find the inclusion of the super natural elements a bit lackluster. I think what I was feeling is that it wasn’t treated like a mystery. I liked the characters choices around Leslie’s reaction to it and the monster and the fact of his own murders, but I didn’t like how Little reaction to it there was. Like he finds a cave with a gorey flowerbed and two severed fingers and after running for his life in the moment he kinda just does not think about it. I would have been fine with that if it had been a bit more explicit that he was avoiding it because of the shellshock or the more immediate threats, but it just felt unaddressed. Overall I felt like something was up with the presentation of the supernatural horror bits. (also something compromised for me in how connected Stevie supposedly is to the forest, vs his ending. it felt like there could have been more there)
(was kind of wild for the epilogue to put them back in an context I recognized where they weren’t being immediately threatened, it made the age dynamic suddenly way more apparent. not a bad thing! but an interesting thing)
I did find the inclusion of the super natural elements a bit lackluster. I think what I was feeling is that it wasn’t treated like a mystery. I liked the characters choices around Leslie’s reaction to it and the monster and the fact of his own murders, but I didn’t like how Little reaction to it there was. Like he finds a cave with a gorey flowerbed and two severed fingers and after running for his life in the moment he kinda just does not think about it. I would have been fine with that if it had been a bit more explicit that he was avoiding it because of the shellshock or the more immediate threats, but it just felt unaddressed. Overall I felt like something was up with the presentation of the supernatural horror bits. (also something compromised for me in how connected Stevie supposedly is to the forest, vs his ending. it felt like there could have been more there)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Rape
(it is a revenge story)