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booksthatburn 's review for:
Breakable Things
by Cassandra Khaw
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
BREAKABLE THINGS is a poignant and visceral collection of stories which end poised on the cusp of something fantastic or terrible, as raw as new grief, haunting like ghosts.
Each story is set in its own world, built from nothing in a few pages and immediately compelling. The main characters rarely have names, their essences are distinct and wonderous without the need for tiny labels. Their stories spill forth as their insides are offered up, with literal and metaphorical viscera pouring out, flayed flesh as common as emotions laid bare.
"Don’t Turn on The Lights" is a strong start to the collection, with an inexorable slide from a bloody and spooky story into something stranger and more horrifying than simple, gory, murder in the dark. My favorite two are "A Leash of Foxes, Their Stories Like Barter" and "Monologue of an unnamed mage, recorded at the brink of the end", but I like every story in the collection. "In the Rustle of Pages" will stay with me for a while, I think.
Each story is set in its own world, built from nothing in a few pages and immediately compelling. The main characters rarely have names, their essences are distinct and wonderous without the need for tiny labels. Their stories spill forth as their insides are offered up, with literal and metaphorical viscera pouring out, flayed flesh as common as emotions laid bare.
"Don’t Turn on The Lights" is a strong start to the collection, with an inexorable slide from a bloody and spooky story into something stranger and more horrifying than simple, gory, murder in the dark. My favorite two are "A Leash of Foxes, Their Stories Like Barter" and "Monologue of an unnamed mage, recorded at the brink of the end", but I like every story in the collection. "In the Rustle of Pages" will stay with me for a while, I think.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War