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jamesbrainz's reviews
10 reviews
Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
3.5
I’ll start by tentatively forgiving this for being a cishetero manifesto on divine femininity, because it’s fresh and dirty and not afraid to poke a little fun at its own absurdity in the beginning. The titular Nightbitch is white, cishet, and middle class and thus the narrative sets itself inside that framework, the generally privileged suburbanite life a seemingly necessary backdrop for the canine transformation. I won’t fault a book for not encompassing every conceivable presentation of a mother when that’s not its purpose, even though it speaks broadly of motherhood and the feminine interconnectedness of all mothers. It’s primarily a bizarre literary werewolf novel, not sociopolitical commentary.
Definitely drags in many places, but I understand the importance of making the reader sit with the mother’s routine as she has sat with it for the long years. A little repetitive and heavy-handed with its metaphors but does something quite fun with them at the end. Overall an interesting premise that makes you sit with its ideas for a time. Will be recommending to my mother in-law.
Definitely drags in many places, but I understand the importance of making the reader sit with the mother’s routine as she has sat with it for the long years. A little repetitive and heavy-handed with its metaphors but does something quite fun with them at the end. Overall an interesting premise that makes you sit with its ideas for a time. Will be recommending to my mother in-law.
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar
5.0
How do I even begin? This has ruined me, changed me, unwound and rebuilt me. I wish I could write a review in prose even comparable to the stunning words that fill This is How You Lose the Time War. It's the epistolary to end all epistolaries, the most beautifully delicate usage of time-travelling and multiverses I've ever seen. And my GOD, the ending!!! It wraps the whole novel in such a perfect bow. I devoured this in a single day and don't doubt I'll return to it again and again. Just incredible work, I don't have enough adjectives for it.
Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White
4.25
I know I'm sorely late to the party, but it's obvious why this novel exploded upon release. It's everything I needed when I was a young, confused, angry trans kid and everything I need now as a not as young, still pretty confused and angry trans adult. Every page is authentic and brutal, every chapter is flooded with gore that bruises the boundary of how much is too much for YA shelves. And it does so with the expertise only available when an author is writing straight from the heart for people like them.
Trans teens deserve this kind of unyielding literature that recognizes the teeth and claws a fascist society has forced them to sharpen and says they are good and they will survive. I'm thoroughly looking forward to devouring everything else Andrew Joseph White throws out into the world.
Trans teens deserve this kind of unyielding literature that recognizes the teeth and claws a fascist society has forced them to sharpen and says they are good and they will survive. I'm thoroughly looking forward to devouring everything else Andrew Joseph White throws out into the world.
Bound in Flesh: An Anthology of Trans Body Horror by Lor Gislason
5.0
Every story in this anthology was so wonderfully horrific that I just have to say a few words about each individually. Buckle in, bastards.
“Wormspace” by LC von Hessen was a fireworks-level way to start off this anthology. I stand by my belief that horror, particularly body horror, is inherently erotic and Wormspace illustrates that with a grotesque beauty. Unflinching and hypnotizing in its kinky subject matter. It’s one of my favorites, but I’ll be saying that a lot.
“The Haunting of Aiden Finch” by Theo Hendrie captures the unsettling tension of found footage horror spectacularly with a brutal punch of body horror to finish it off. Using a trans man’s voice update videos to facilitate said found footage horror was the bloody icing on the cake.
“Coming Out” by Derek Des Anges was just the right amount of confusing you’d expect from fungal horror delivered with all the grime of its prison setting.
“Mama is a Butcher” by Winter Holmes really exemplified the horror of living in a strange, unwanted-by-others body and the ways a young person navigates such restraints and prejudices with all the delicious details of sewing skin to skin.
“Fall Apart” by gaast was another one of my favorites with an incredible premise. It’s fast and skin-crawling and climactic, nearly evoking a The Ritual-esque creature with more metal.
“Lady Davelina’s Last Pet” by Charles-Elizabeth Boyles was yet another favorite (told you I’d be saying that a lot). Everyone loves shapeshifter horror and what better way to shapeshift than when it’s near-constant and uncontrolled? The real body horror here was the intensely uncomfortable and tangible descriptions of dysphoria.
“In the Garden of Horn, The Naked Magic Thrives” by Hailey Piper seemed written specifically for my tastes in erotic horror (along with “Wormspace”) with its mystical fetish horn, gender affirmation via said mystical fetish horn, and climactic orgastic creation of a god.
I was honored to personally give my review of “A Scream Lights Up The Sky” to the man himself, Joe Koch, but I will elaborate here too. The scenario and prose revolted me in the best way possible with its grotesquely intricate details of arachnid-thing death and labor. Made the mistake of eating mac and cheese while I devoured this story and will make that mistake again.
“Long Fingers” by Layne Van Rensburg had the most irresistible character voice I’ve read in quite some time. I wish nothing but the best for Jennifer in her fleshy, world conquering pursuits.
“A Brief History of the Santa Carcossa Archipelago” by Bitter Karella had a premise so sexually nasty that I just had to give my biology-obsessed boyfriend the play-by-play as I read it. Equal parts arousing and informative; if you didn’t have an intimate knowledge of the mating patterns of trench fish, you will after reading this. Goes without saying that this is another favorite.
“Show Me” by Amanda M. Blake captured a cold and gradual horror that had me hungrily looking forward to the comeuppance I knew would be delivered.
“Man of the House” by Lillian Boyd was another positively delicious revenge story that immediately has you rooting for the haunted house’s ghost. It’s always a fun time to see bigots get their dearly deserved due.
Just as beautifully as it began, Bound in Flesh ends with an absolute showstopper in “Looking for the Big Death” by Taliesin Neith, another author I have the privilege of speaking to personally. Saying I’m obsessed with the premise of an immortal with a need for death and an oddly sweet murderer would be an understatement. May the main character live long and die often.
“Wormspace” by LC von Hessen was a fireworks-level way to start off this anthology. I stand by my belief that horror, particularly body horror, is inherently erotic and Wormspace illustrates that with a grotesque beauty. Unflinching and hypnotizing in its kinky subject matter. It’s one of my favorites, but I’ll be saying that a lot.
“The Haunting of Aiden Finch” by Theo Hendrie captures the unsettling tension of found footage horror spectacularly with a brutal punch of body horror to finish it off. Using a trans man’s voice update videos to facilitate said found footage horror was the bloody icing on the cake.
“Coming Out” by Derek Des Anges was just the right amount of confusing you’d expect from fungal horror delivered with all the grime of its prison setting.
“Mama is a Butcher” by Winter Holmes really exemplified the horror of living in a strange, unwanted-by-others body and the ways a young person navigates such restraints and prejudices with all the delicious details of sewing skin to skin.
“Fall Apart” by gaast was another one of my favorites with an incredible premise. It’s fast and skin-crawling and climactic, nearly evoking a The Ritual-esque creature with more metal.
“Lady Davelina’s Last Pet” by Charles-Elizabeth Boyles was yet another favorite (told you I’d be saying that a lot). Everyone loves shapeshifter horror and what better way to shapeshift than when it’s near-constant and uncontrolled? The real body horror here was the intensely uncomfortable and tangible descriptions of dysphoria.
“In the Garden of Horn, The Naked Magic Thrives” by Hailey Piper seemed written specifically for my tastes in erotic horror (along with “Wormspace”) with its mystical fetish horn, gender affirmation via said mystical fetish horn, and climactic orgastic creation of a god.
I was honored to personally give my review of “A Scream Lights Up The Sky” to the man himself, Joe Koch, but I will elaborate here too. The scenario and prose revolted me in the best way possible with its grotesquely intricate details of arachnid-thing death and labor. Made the mistake of eating mac and cheese while I devoured this story and will make that mistake again.
“Long Fingers” by Layne Van Rensburg had the most irresistible character voice I’ve read in quite some time. I wish nothing but the best for Jennifer in her fleshy, world conquering pursuits.
“A Brief History of the Santa Carcossa Archipelago” by Bitter Karella had a premise so sexually nasty that I just had to give my biology-obsessed boyfriend the play-by-play as I read it. Equal parts arousing and informative; if you didn’t have an intimate knowledge of the mating patterns of trench fish, you will after reading this. Goes without saying that this is another favorite.
“Show Me” by Amanda M. Blake captured a cold and gradual horror that had me hungrily looking forward to the comeuppance I knew would be delivered.
“Man of the House” by Lillian Boyd was another positively delicious revenge story that immediately has you rooting for the haunted house’s ghost. It’s always a fun time to see bigots get their dearly deserved due.
Just as beautifully as it began, Bound in Flesh ends with an absolute showstopper in “Looking for the Big Death” by Taliesin Neith, another author I have the privilege of speaking to personally. Saying I’m obsessed with the premise of an immortal with a need for death and an oddly sweet murderer would be an understatement. May the main character live long and die often.
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