magenta_menace's reviews
1046 reviews

A Game in Yellow by Hailey Piper

3.75

thanks to netgalley and saga press for a free arc of this title! cosmic, erotic, and a little psychotic, this book feels like an archaic fever dream come to life via kink. i believe hailey piper is at her best when she leans into these hidden worlds beneath the surface of “humanity,” and this one handles that premise well. it’s a bit discombobulating, and the alternating between prose and play script can be a bit jarring but i personally didn’t  mind it. i also appreciated that this book didn’t shy away from having more questions than it answered. a great psychosexual terror. 

Hauntress by Minetarō Mochizuki

3.0

thanks to netgalley and kodansha for a free arc of this title before the translation debuts. i’m so glad this finally got a solid english edition almost thirty years after its initial publication, because this was creepy good fun. the art style is that quintessential 90s seinen vibe that’s pretty realistic in the facial features, which makes the monstrous elements pop even more. plot felt bare in points and the ending was a bit unresolved for my taste but i did enjoy that this was a quick read but still felt dark and suspenseful. 

it hurts to breathe: a novella by Jharna Sutaria

1.0

thanks to netgalley for a free arc of this title. i promise i’m not being contrarian rating this so low, because the content represented in this story is important seen in literature, but here it was done in such a shoddy fashion. first, the profound suspension of belief needed to get through this is astounding. no college grad immediately gets a job as an associate professor or working at their own law firm. no current college student is going to class in the morning and immediately going to work at school teaching their own curriculum that isn’t school sanctioned. i know they’re small details but these things make these characters feel make-believe and therefore not able to be connected with at all. there was very little sentence variety and while the sparseness may have worked for some, for me i feel it undid narrative progress. 

Paradise Logic by Sophie Kemp

5.0

thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free arc of this title! i can’t remember the last time i read something as unique and creative as this book. kemp weaves a web both hilarious and gut-wrenchingly bleak through reality’s narrative voice, a fever dream of epic proportions. pacing was fantastic and i couldn’t put it down! the blend of satire and tongue in cheek esoterica made for a remarkably well balanced work of literary humor. absolutely cannot wait for more from sophie kemp. 

Shy Girl by Mia Ballard

4.25

thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free arc of this title. this book was shocking and vile, and it kept me absolutely enrapt the whole time. i couldn't put it down, as i couldn't wait to see what happened next to gia. the body horror was well done, and the tension was mostly solid. would've been a five stars for me but the pacing was a little all over the pace and the constant use of the words "hum" and "sharp" led me to believe it was less a stylistic choice and more an issue of repetition. all in all, a solid, edge-of-your-seat read, and i can't wait to snag a physical copy because the cover is reason enough to keep it on the shelf. 

theMystery.doc by Matthew McIntosh

this is a book i don’t think i can give a starred rating to. this was probably the most exhausting, confusing, and frustrating book i’ve ever read. that’s not to say that it’s bad. it’s honestly a work of art. granted, the average person probably isn’t going to sit down and casually read this one. the amount of breaks i had to take to get through this was insane just because of how intricate and interwoven everything was. was this a mishmash? yeah, but it was intentional and i do applaud that.

Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy A. Snyder

5.0

what the fuck!! what the fuck!!

Stag Dance: A Novel & Stories by Torrey Peters

5.0

thanks to netgalley and random house for a free arc of this title! wow, am i blown away by this. i've been following torrey peters since before the topside press era, and it's remarkable to see how her craft has grown since then. i'd already read "infect your friends and loved ones" and "the masker" as stand-alones before but it was so enlightening to read them again. the eponymous novel here was unlike anything i've read in a very long time. peters dances around the protagonist's revelation in such a sparse, beautiful way that had me hooked from the start. however, my favorite part of this collection of stories was "the chaser," which was so poignant, tender, and heartbreaking. my first five star review of 2025 and well-deserved at that. 

Beside Myself by Ashley Farmer

2.0

the language in this was pretty, but i think it was a victim of improper branding. these were not short stories, they were prose poems. maybe one or two could have constituted as micro-fiction, but these were not really narrative at all. a lot of the themes felt repetitive and just vague enough to get away with being construed as really well written, but i struggled to feel like there was any story to this. 

She's Always Hungry by Eliza Clark

4.5

eliza clark does nastiness so, so well. biting, witty, and pretty gross, these short stories pack a solid punch. the body horror in most of these stories is just uncomfortable enough to appeal to those unfamiliar with the genre, but is still super pleasing to an aficionado of grotesquerie too.