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A review by owlsreads
The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo
dark
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Lee Mandelo wrote this book for meeee :D
I seriously cannot begin to tell you how up my alley this book was. The late 1920s setting in Kentucky with all the period-typical awfulness that existed (and still exists!) was the perfect background for Leslie's character and his journey throughout the book. I very much enjoyed all the gender fuckery that happened here with the queer rep and all the different ways people can present and be themselves.
The religious bigotry plot made me so damn angry! as usual with things like that. There were some uncomfortable and outright horrible scenes to read through in regard to that. They added so much tension to an already pretty tense book and Mandelo challenged that perfectly within the plot.
Leslie and Stevie's everything hit me right in the gut! Their interactions were my absolute favorite parts of the story, even more so as things progressed and escalated with each passing chapter. Every twist surrounding them was incredibly satisfying to me as a reader and I loooooooved that Mandelo Went There with the weird stuff. This was honestly such an amazing read <3
I seriously cannot begin to tell you how up my alley this book was. The late 1920s setting in Kentucky with all the period-typical awfulness that existed (and still exists!) was the perfect background for Leslie's character and his journey throughout the book. I very much enjoyed all the gender fuckery that happened here with the queer rep and all the different ways people can present and be themselves.
The religious bigotry plot made me so damn angry! as usual with things like that. There were some uncomfortable and outright horrible scenes to read through in regard to that. They added so much tension to an already pretty tense book and Mandelo challenged that perfectly within the plot.
Leslie and Stevie's everything hit me right in the gut! Their interactions were my absolute favorite parts of the story, even more so as things progressed and escalated with each passing chapter. Every twist surrounding them was incredibly satisfying to me as a reader and I loooooooved that Mandelo Went There with the weird stuff. This was honestly such an amazing read <3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Transphobia, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Rape