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vanmeers's reviews
387 reviews
The Day of the Door by Laurel Hightower
4.5
this was very much a story on family trauma and childhood abuse wrapped up in horror themed wrapping paper with a little ghostly bow tie — it might not be for everyone, especially if you’re expecting full on paranormal horror but i loved it!
but i think it’s a perfect mix between a potentially haunted house story and the affects of childhood abuse/trauma way into adulthood. the way you’re questioning whether there’s a real evil entity in the house or if it’s just the mum’s own excuses for her what she did to the oldest son is just so 👌👌👌
this is such a page turned and ‘impossible to put down’ book and i absolutely loved every part of it. including the ending and the insistence that whether there were ghostly entities or not affecting their mum, that ultimately she’s still culpable.
/// ARC received through booksirens.
Zippers by Candace Nola
4.0
do you ever just love someone so much that you just want to open them up and crawl inside of them? to feel safe and comfortable in a loved one’s embrace?
well, meet katrina who happen to crave a specific kind of love. the kind of love you can only get when you’re skin deep in literal skin suits stitched together with zippers.
this was positively gross and detailed, but it somehow also hit you right in the emotions in between all the gore and flesh? huge fan of katrina’s zippered skin suits 👌
well, meet katrina who happen to crave a specific kind of love. the kind of love you can only get when you’re skin deep in literal skin suits stitched together with zippers.
this was positively gross and detailed, but it somehow also hit you right in the emotions in between all the gore and flesh? huge fan of katrina’s zippered skin suits 👌
Coup de grâce by Sofia Ajram
5.0
This book FUCKS! With a capital F.
The description for this being "a mindbending and visceral experimental horror" is absolutely accurate, on so many levels, and it's one of those stories that will beg to be read again and again. There's so many layers to this, that I can hardly think clearly even after having sat with my emotions after having read this weeks ago?
It's a heavy story on depression, the pain of living and the surreal nightmare of living under capitalism. The subway station feels like existential dread personified mixed with all my childhood nightmares of walking through neverending neighbourhoods with no one around – just me and my silly little fears. It's so uncomfortable and visceral, and just in your face, and it's made even better with having you decide Vicken's fate.
The fact that we get to just decide Vicken's fate in a choose your own nightmarish adventure is a CHOICE and I'm all here for it. It feels so intentional within the context of capitalism: how we're all part of the machine, never really in charge of our own choices and the future they bring, and how ultimately we're moved by other people's choices — whether Vicken gets a happy ending or not, it all depends on the whims of the reader.
Which also means it's a story that you can and should reread and then question your own actions? Are you making Vicken suffer or do you want the best for him, and why? It's honestly a great way to see how the choices we make, that affects others, are maybe also just affected by everything else around us? Like, maybe I'm reading too much into it but that's the beauty of stories. They take on their own lives and this one is a story that begs to live on in the minds of readers in my opinion!
Anyway, TL;DR this is a messed up little book with a lot to say and it will make you FEEL things. It also gives off serious "when you're depressed but you grew up on Homestuck" vibes AND it mentions John Dies at the End. So if you're anything like me, consuming media that relates to other media, you should pick this up — also it's GAY and almost a tragicomedy so it's perfect.
/// ARC courtesy of Titan Books and Edelweiss.
The description for this being "a mindbending and visceral experimental horror" is absolutely accurate, on so many levels, and it's one of those stories that will beg to be read again and again. There's so many layers to this, that I can hardly think clearly even after having sat with my emotions after having read this weeks ago?
It's a heavy story on depression, the pain of living and the surreal nightmare of living under capitalism. The subway station feels like existential dread personified mixed with all my childhood nightmares of walking through neverending neighbourhoods with no one around – just me and my silly little fears. It's so uncomfortable and visceral, and just in your face, and it's made even better with having you decide Vicken's fate.
The fact that we get to just decide Vicken's fate in a choose your own nightmarish adventure is a CHOICE and I'm all here for it. It feels so intentional within the context of capitalism: how we're all part of the machine, never really in charge of our own choices and the future they bring, and how ultimately we're moved by other people's choices — whether Vicken gets a happy ending or not, it all depends on the whims of the reader.
Which also means it's a story that you can and should reread and then question your own actions? Are you making Vicken suffer or do you want the best for him, and why? It's honestly a great way to see how the choices we make, that affects others, are maybe also just affected by everything else around us? Like, maybe I'm reading too much into it but that's the beauty of stories. They take on their own lives and this one is a story that begs to live on in the minds of readers in my opinion!
Anyway, TL;DR this is a messed up little book with a lot to say and it will make you FEEL things. It also gives off serious "when you're depressed but you grew up on Homestuck" vibes AND it mentions John Dies at the End. So if you're anything like me, consuming media that relates to other media, you should pick this up — also it's GAY and almost a tragicomedy so it's perfect.
/// ARC courtesy of Titan Books and Edelweiss.
I AM AI by Ai Jiang
3.75
What a perfect novelette exploring what it means to be human, the art we create and the loss of individuality in the face of capitalism (and AI). How willing we are, to lose the parts that make us human, so that we can become more efficient workers surviving under capitalism?
I AM AI is short, but it packs a punch. It has a message that it delivers straight on, but Ai Jiang manages, as always, to bring so much soul and depth to the story that you won't be able to stop thinking about it and the characters for a long while after.
If you're interested in anything Jiang has written, then this is a really good (and short) introduction that'll leave you wanting more (and since you're at it, why not pick up Linghun after!).
I AM AI is short, but it packs a punch. It has a message that it delivers straight on, but Ai Jiang manages, as always, to bring so much soul and depth to the story that you won't be able to stop thinking about it and the characters for a long while after.
If you're interested in anything Jiang has written, then this is a really good (and short) introduction that'll leave you wanting more (and since you're at it, why not pick up Linghun after!).
Byron (A Taste of his Dingleberries) by Mr. Dingle
3.5
😭😭😭 absolutely unhinged! it’s giving ‘it’s me, charlie’ vibes but if charlie had an unlimited amount of semen.
Be Very Afraid of Kanako Inuki! by Kanako Inuki
4.0
found this on sale at forbidden planet and figured i had to grab it because it looked both adorable and creepy? literally never heard of kanako inuki before, but this feels like the perfect introduction to her work: lots of shorter stories to really get into the vibe of her horror stories!
definitely wanna read more of her work (especially bc it feels like some of these short stories are beginnings of longer stories? or i hope so!).
definitely wanna read more of her work (especially bc it feels like some of these short stories are beginnings of longer stories? or i hope so!).
A Bright Ray of Darkness by Ethan Hawke
3.25
thank god that ethan hawke is hot because this really isn’t the next big hit in the literary sphere.
i listened to the audiobook narrated by hawke himself (hot, except for mostly all the sex scenes which feels impossible but yet here we are) and it was an enjoyable read.
it’s all about a semi famous actor trying his hand at shakespeare on broadway while going through a messy divorce. all because he’s got a god complex and a dick he can’t keep in his pants. despite being an insufferable character, you really couldn’t help but being intrigued by him and his escapades. i’ll give ethan hawke that but mostly it felt like what the road by jack kerouac probably is — insufferable and pretentious but also full of sooo much sex and misogynistic written women.
(also is this also biographical because we all know our boy hawke had his own share of cheating on his wife? and was in a shakespeare play? they say write what you know about it guess).