gxuosi's reviews
326 reviews

Midsummer by Alethea Faust

4.0

if only there was more murder and men dying <3

Don't Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones
Did not finish book. Stopped at 41%.

dnf at 41%. this was such a crushing, soul-sucking, gutting disappointment. i loved my heart is a chainsaw and spent months excitedly waiting to read this. but it turns out what gave my heart is a chainsaw any of its self proclaimed heart was completely absent here.

i loved the idea of jennifer trying so hard to not be who she used to be  that she’s become a non-believing adult and letha being so wrapped up in her final girldom that she’s become who jennifer used to be. but the rest falls apart from there. i didn’t even remember who banner was and had o read a book 1 recap…

the story is tangled in a pit of POV swaps without headers, nonlinear memory recalls, and less than mentally sound conversations leading nowhere. it’s nearly impossible to keep up with even if you perfectly remember the first book. what made the first book such a good story was how connective it’s tissue was, how well written our in-the-know character is, and that nonlinear diversions or POV were few and far enough between that they were comprehensible. i am genuinely so disappointed that this book fell apart for me.

The Blonde Dies First by Joelle Wellington

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

joelle wellington the author that you are... i know anything you write is an immediate purchase. this was such a classic slasher and subverted all of the usual subversions in a modern take on slashers; all while feeling deeply on the pulse of the cultural sphere. you wrote a protagonist so dislikable that i was convinced she was secretly a demon. such a fun ass book. i know some readers may feel like the political, social, and economic narrative may be on the nose or thrown in as an after thought but it's just so true to horror as a genre. horror has always been the leading foot in the social conversation. the best way to measure any era is to know what they considered counter culture and frightening; and this was no different. a true horror story through and through. if they wanna make a movie out of this, PLEEEEEEEASE make that happen.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Racism, Vomit, Medical content, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Police brutality, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, and Gaslighting

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke And Other Misfortunes by Eric LaRocca

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

it’s a psychological horror lacking any of the thought provoking narrative and symbolism that would give substance to the splatterpunk levels of torture porn happening. just page after page of graphic violence for seemingly no narrative purpose other than to disgust the reader.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Infertility, and Sexual content

Minor: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

continued content warnings: graphic on page animal murder of a salamander and a cat, implication of eyes being gouged out, broken ankle and exposed bone injury, child murder, crucifixion imagery

Ossuary by T.D. Cloud

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

very slow start for such a short book but around 40% the book changes. things get .... sticky. a dark, damp, keening inhuman hunger in a dank horror and full of blood-slick revenge. there's an atmospheric oppressive aura that closes in around you in calculated steps as thierry begins to understand his life and journey no longer in broad strokes, but in critical moments with jarring clarity. given the chance to kill your abusers and the complicit... wouldn't you take it?

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Vomit, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Minor: Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, and Kidnapping

the mmc thierry grew up in dangerous neglectful come and remembers that story along side the emotional and verbal abuse he experiences during the novel. he is drastically ostracized for his family name and the focus of targeted harassment. characters in the course of the story experience injuries and conditions like:

claustrophobia, concussive head injury, being bitten, broken neck, dismemberment, mind control

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo

adventurous mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

oh to be great and terrible and love with a hunger that has claws

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Blood

Moderate: Confinement, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Animal death and Sexual content

Dark Emu: Aboriginal Australia and the Birth of Agriculture by Bruce Pascoe

informative reflective

3.0

really well informed take on aboriginal history with enlightening topics i, as an american, have never remotely heard of; some of which deeply shocking sections in the livestock section. i was able to draw lots of parallels on other nations and peoples like palestine, first nations and native americans, the mermaids of jeju. the author did a lot of grandstanding and circled back to hammer in platitudes which felt a bit like a research paper, but if you read this over the course of a month+ that would have been harmless.

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Death, Genocide, Racism, Sexual violence, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

cannibalism as a metaphor for love, to be so devoted that you devour them whole, but seen from the eyes of the eaten. to be so desired you are torn apart piece by piece. to have nothing left as you are rended from bone and marrow into a porcelain doll, finally an empty husk that’s no longer the idol of your keeper’s eye. to be left in a world of cannibals, devourers, the eaters and eaten; and then against all odds to choose instead of destruction, that someone is worth cannibalizing yourself for; creation, sacrifice, love.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Grief, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Miscarriage and Excrement

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story by Alexander Freed

adventurous emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

i am never reading this fucking book again. i cant put myself through this shit again man.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Torture, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Confinement

Girls Like Her by Melanie Sumrow

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

this was fucking HARROWING. that's it. that's the review.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Abortion, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, and Classism