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gxuosi's Reviews (390)
dark
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i love when the plot is just: am i more than you bargained for yet
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Sexism, Torture, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Classism
Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Abortion
Minor: Homophobia, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual assault, Pregnancy
injuries include and are not limited to strangulation, gutting, slit throat, burgeoning, stabbing, nonconsensual cesarean section, animal attack, draw and quartering, decapitation, arson, impalement, graphic eye injury.
dnf at 46%. i was genuinely so conflicted over dnf'ing this book that it took an hour to decide if this was the right thing to do. i was so frustrated with having to make this choice that i quite frankly felt like i could cry. the problem i'm having is i just hated this book. i tried to explain away why i wasn't vibing with it, that i was fine till part 3, that it's one of nnedi's oldest novels. but at the end of the day- if i finished this book i'd being giving it 1/5 and by dnf'ing it... i can avoid rating it.
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
if a legacy could be inherited, the guilt of that burden should have pulled dymitr under a long time ago; a crushing chain-march of righteous justice and penitence. if you could atone for not just your own sins, but your family's—not through punishment, but through being changed—wouldn't you peel your flesh down to the bone to make amends?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Grief
Moderate: Genocide, Racism, Murder
Minor: Child death, Genocide, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Alcohol, Colonisation, War
this was not written for me. but somewhere hidden in the pages between grasping to frame her own gender within herself and society’s expectations, i find myself hidden; a bookmark left in a donated book on the shelf. i have been here and someone has seen me.
dnf at 41%. this was such a crushing, soul-sucking, gutting disappointment. i loved my heart is a chainsaw and spent months excitedly waiting to read this. but it turns out what gave my heart is a chainsaw any of its self proclaimed heart was completely absent here.
i loved the idea of jennifer trying so hard to not be who she used to be that she’s become a non-believing adult and letha being so wrapped up in her final girldom that she’s become who jennifer used to be. but the rest falls apart from there. i didn’t even remember who banner was and had o read a book 1 recap…
the story is tangled in a pit of POV swaps without headers, nonlinear memory recalls, and less than mentally sound conversations leading nowhere. it’s nearly impossible to keep up with even if you perfectly remember the first book. what made the first book such a good story was how connective it’s tissue was, how well written our in-the-know character is, and that nonlinear diversions or POV were few and far enough between that they were comprehensible. i am genuinely so disappointed that this book fell apart for me.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
joelle wellington the author that you are... i know anything you write is an immediate purchase. this was such a classic slasher and subverted all of the usual subversions in a modern take on slashers; all while feeling deeply on the pulse of the cultural sphere. you wrote a protagonist so dislikable that i was convinced she was secretly a demon. such a fun ass book. i know some readers may feel like the political, social, and economic narrative may be on the nose or thrown in as an after thought but it's just so true to horror as a genre. horror has always been the leading foot in the social conversation. the best way to measure any era is to know what they considered counter culture and frightening; and this was no different. a true horror story through and through. if they wanna make a movie out of this, PLEEEEEEEASE make that happen.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Racism, Vomit, Medical content, Murder, Alcohol, Classism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Police brutality, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
it’s a psychological horror lacking any of the thought provoking narrative and symbolism that would give substance to the splatterpunk levels of torture porn happening. just page after page of graphic violence for seemingly no narrative purpose other than to disgust the reader.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Infertility, Sexual content
Minor: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol
continued content warnings: graphic on page animal murder of a salamander and a cat, implication of eyes being gouged out, broken ankle and exposed bone injury, child murder, crucifixion imagery
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
very slow start for such a short book but around 40% the book changes. things get .... sticky. a dark, damp, keening inhuman hunger in a dank horror and full of blood-slick revenge. there's an atmospheric oppressive aura that closes in around you in calculated steps as thierry begins to understand his life and journey no longer in broad strokes, but in critical moments with jarring clarity. given the chance to kill your abusers and the complicit... wouldn't you take it?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment
Minor: Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping
the mmc thierry grew up in dangerous neglectful come and remembers that story along side the emotional and verbal abuse he experiences during the novel. he is drastically ostracized for his family name and the focus of targeted harassment. characters in the course of the story experience injuries and conditions like: claustrophobia, concussive head injury, being bitten, broken neck, dismemberment, mind control
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
oh to be great and terrible and love with a hunger that has claws
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood
Moderate: Confinement, Violence, Murder
Minor: Animal death, Sexual content