A review by jocie_roller
The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo

tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

Hm. I don't think I've ever read a book that wrote itself from a 5-star review to a 1-star review in such a liner fashion. And in only 150 pages. Here is a reenactment of my thoughts and their corresponding anticipated star-rating of this book as I thought them:

5-stars: ooh, this book has potential! A non-passing trans man in the 1920s with WWI battlefield nursing experience visits a remote Appalachian town to provide reproductive and gender affirming health care to anyone who needs it, including another young trans man despite threats from a bigoted preacher in a vaguely spooky, gothic setting. Neat!

4-star: Ok, I get it, the vibe is spooky and suspenseful. Please get on with the plot.

3-stars: The two main characters start a sexual relationship with a pretty graphic sex scene. I'm slightly uncomfy about the age gap and power gap relationship. Also, I prefer my novels free of the type of words for body parts and sex acts usually found in porn titles.

2-stars: Oh, goodness, now we've added super gory violence to the egregious sex scenes.

1-star: Was this entire thing just a bestiality/bloody murder/age-gap porno masquerading as a lit fic novella??? 
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