Scan barcode
A review by lezreadalot
The Price of Meat by KJ Charles
5.0
“We’ll teach you hunger in the liberty, Miss Oakley. We’ll make you eat everything you’re served.”
Awful in the best way possible. Johanna is determined to rescue her beloved Arabella from the madhouse, and takes on a duty that pits her against some of the worst that humanity and London have to offer. She has a stalwart magistrate on her side, a truly just man, but will that be enough? Really well-written, as all of Charles' books are, and does a great job of immersing you in the history and the setting, describing the terror and the horror, and giving you a great sense of the characters. We have a great little cast of queer heroes and anti-heroes, and it didn't take long for me to start rooting for them. I love Johanna so much; what a great heroine. This is one of those rare novellas where I'm almost perfectly satisfied with its length. (Though I wouldn't have quibbled if it'd been a teensy bit longer.)
I don't often like horror, but I did like this, and I'm trying to pin down why. I do enjoy body horror and gross descriptions (well... "enjoy"; they can be horrible and fascinating in great ways when used properly) and this definitely had those. The scary bits weren't jump scares, just a horrible sense of foreboding and terror and situational grossness. A lot of the time I has unnerved rather than scared, but that was just as good.
Always great to read another K.J. Charles. Here's to hoping there's more f/f in her future. 4.5 stars.
Content warnings:
Awful in the best way possible. Johanna is determined to rescue her beloved Arabella from the madhouse, and takes on a duty that pits her against some of the worst that humanity and London have to offer. She has a stalwart magistrate on her side, a truly just man, but will that be enough? Really well-written, as all of Charles' books are, and does a great job of immersing you in the history and the setting, describing the terror and the horror, and giving you a great sense of the characters. We have a great little cast of queer heroes and anti-heroes, and it didn't take long for me to start rooting for them. I love Johanna so much; what a great heroine. This is one of those rare novellas where I'm almost perfectly satisfied with its length. (Though I wouldn't have quibbled if it'd been a teensy bit longer.)
I don't often like horror, but I did like this, and I'm trying to pin down why. I do enjoy body horror and gross descriptions (well... "enjoy"; they can be horrible and fascinating in great ways when used properly) and this definitely had those. The scary bits weren't jump scares, just a horrible sense of foreboding and terror and situational grossness. A lot of the time I has unnerved rather than scared, but that was just as good.
Always great to read another K.J. Charles. Here's to hoping there's more f/f in her future. 4.5 stars.
Content warnings: