poisoned_icecream's reviews
2035 reviews

Heartfelt Horrors: Nine Short Stories by Michael Sellars

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense

5.0

These are some excellent short stories. They're all sad and heartbreaking, but definitely full of heart and humanity, as well as empathy for these flawed, broken characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, Suicide attempt, War

Help Wanted by J. Emery

funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

The Cybernetic Tea Shop by Meredith Katz

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

The Forest by Lisa Quigley

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Sometimes I'll take a chance on a motherhood-centric story despite how much I despise human babies and pregnancy. It helps that this is folk horror. It is about Faye, a woman who grew up in a commune/cult. She is next in line to be steward, and then she finds out that in order to ensure the health and safety of her community, she has to sacrifice her firstborn child to the forest. Like any reasonable parent would, Faye refuses and instead decides to attempt escaping through the forest. The descriptions of the forest were a real highlight, and the writing was engaging enough to keep me reading till the end. Even if this didn't impress me that much I'll still seek out more of Lisa Quigley's books in the future.

Queer Life, Queer Love by Sarah Beal, Matt Bates, Golnoosh Nour, Kate Beal

2.5

Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on The Decision Not To Have Kids by Meghan Daum
Did not finish book.

I only read the introduction for this book, and from that I found out that one of the writers in this anthology has a stepchild. That is NOT being childfree. Childfree means not taking on any parental responsibilities, and that includes stepchildren. Perhaps I'd relate to the rest of these essays, but my interest in reading these essays has completely dropped.

A Girl Goes Into the Forest by Peg Alford Pursell

challenging emotional reflective sad tense

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

4.5

Every story in this collection is full of empathy and compassion for the flawed characters. The stories explore relationships between parents and their children, friends, siblings, and romantic partners. This is my first time reading anything by Peg Alford Pursell and it is not gonna be my last.

We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer

emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

The United States of Cryptids: A Tour of American Myths and Monsters by J.W. Ocker

adventurous informative medium-paced

2.5

This book is fine. Didn't like it as much as I thought I would, but I don't dislike it. There's some interesting stuff, but the author's fixation with towns and cities capitalizing on cryptids, plus his jokes really annoyed me. Still gonna read some of his other books If I can find them in the local library's catalog.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death

Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart: And Other Stories by GennaRose Nethercott

4.5

I had a lot of fun reading these stories. They are surreal and fantastical. The writing is pretty and it made me so engaged. I'm definitely reading more from GennaRose Nethercott.