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A review by immortalish
Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
DNF'd; review hosts spoilers.
Struggled through the entirety of what I read; as someone who enjoys monster books, this really just wasn't it for me. The gore and body horror felt excessive, especially given that there is no indication on NG, GR, from the publisher, or the author, that this is something used to an extreme degree. In the first chapter alone I had over 30 highlights of gore and body horror, which did not bode well for the rest of the novel that I managed to get through.
The romance was beak and given it started with Shesheshan considering in excess about how best to eat the love interest, but I suppose we all start somewhere!
As I didn't finish the book, I will not touch on the asexual romance itself, however I will say as a lesbian, I do think it's a tired practice that sapphic romances must be watered down and palatable to the general public by making them as sanitized and non-sexual as possible. I'm all for wlw/sapphic asexuals writing their experiences and giving voice to sorely needed representation, but given this is written by a male author, I find myself more concerned with the aforementioned sanitization.
I do think that this book will have no trouble finding a readership that loves it deeply, and I am glad to see that publishers are taking opportunities to publish more off the wall books/ideas, as it keeps all of us having new reading experiences.
Thank you to DAW and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.
The romance was beak and given it started with Shesheshan considering in excess about how best to eat the love interest, but I suppose we all start somewhere!
As I didn't finish the book, I will not touch on the asexual romance itself, however I will say as a lesbian, I do think it's a tired practice that sapphic romances must be watered down and palatable to the general public by making them as sanitized and non-sexual as possible. I'm all for wlw/sapphic asexuals writing their experiences and giving voice to sorely needed representation, but given this is written by a male author, I find myself more concerned with the aforementioned sanitization.
I do think that this book will have no trouble finding a readership that loves it deeply, and I am glad to see that publishers are taking opportunities to publish more off the wall books/ideas, as it keeps all of us having new reading experiences.
Thank you to DAW and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Body horror