mosshaunt's reviews
21 reviews

Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

MUCH more of a "monster-driven gory horror and satire of reality TV" than "sapphic monster romcom" as some marketing makes it sound.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gore, Death, Violence, Car accident, Blood, Murder, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Homophobia and Lesbophobia

Minor: Sexual content, Abortion, and Cancer

Authority by Jeff VanderMeer

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

struggled to get through this one. something about it made me reread passages a lot, thinking i missed something.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Animal death, Cancer, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, and Body horror

Minor: Alcohol, Fatphobia, Racism, and Vomit

The Seep by Chana Porter

emotional reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

loved the worldbuilding, but a lot of the plot felt like it could've been condensed down into a short story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, and Grief

Moderate: Racism and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Transphobia, Sexual content, and Suicide

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar

adventurous emotional medium-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

4.5

long-form poetry as storytelling. a bit hard to get through if you're looking for something linear, but worth it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Alcohol and Confinement

Finna by Nino Cipri

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.5

it was cute! i don't have many thoughts beyond that.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Transphobia, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Cultural appropriation and Sexual content

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

sometimes i found the text confusing, and either too detailed or not detailed enough, but i feel that is the most appropriate way to experience the world of area x, in the same way the biologist is compelled into it.

would i say it is incredible? no. but because of its flaws, i loved it.

sidenote: multiple major characters are confirmed to not be white in the sequel, but it is not brought up in this book at all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Body horror

Moderate: Violence and Murder

Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cancer, and Sexual content

Severance by Ling Ma

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

the final 1/5th of the book is fantastically claustrophobic and isolating, but i felt that everything leading up was disjointed in comparison.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Pregnancy, Suicide, Drug use, and Sexual content

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

adventurous medium-paced

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

4.25

4/16/2023: i'm not involved with most book-related circles on social media and was not aware of the isabel fall incident. i will leave my original rating up for this book but after hearing the author was involved in harassing a trans woman, i have no intent to read any more of n.k. jemisen's works.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Xenophobia

Moderate: Misogyny, Homophobia, and Sexual assault

Minor: Ableism, Gun violence, and Transphobia

New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color by Nisi Shawl

adventurous medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

some stories are great, some i didn't particularly care for, but it felt like a very cohesive collection.

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship