A review by corabookworm
The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

I honestly thought this book was 5-star worthy for the most part. The writing was fantastic, the historical elements interesting but not boring, the story fast paced, and the plot intriguing. The explicit sex scenes threw me off and, due to personal preference, lowered the rating of the book to 4 stars. But otherwise I really liked it! If you're looking for short, queer horror with elements of religion, romance, monsters, and history, this one's pretty damn good!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Murder, Body horror, and Transphobia

Moderate: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Homophobia

Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, and Confinement

Sexual assault is referenced/implied multiple times but never shown on page. There are pretty explicit sex scenes, so if that kind of stuff makes you uncomfortable, skip these parts:

pg. 100/65% ish and pg. 132/86%

. There's also pretty gory stuff, which is worst at:

85%/pg. 130ish