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howlinglibraries's Reviews (1.85k)
Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women
Grace Chan, Gabriela Lee, Nadia Bulkin, Alma Katsu, Geneve Flynn, Rin Chupeco, Angela Yuriko Smith, Rena Mason, Elaine Cuyegkeng, Christina Sng, Lee Murray
I've been meaning to read this anthology for ages, and I'm so glad that I finally did! There were so many incredible stories in here, both from new-to-me authors and authors whose works I had loved before. Each story in this collection touches on how hard it is to be a southeast Asian woman in a world so full of misogyny and racism, but the pieces range from speculative horror to dark fantasy to dystopian nightmares. I'm adding a breakdown of each story and the rating I gave it below, but if you need the TL;DR version, this is a fantastic, beautiful collection that I highly recommend!
→ The Genetic Alchemist’s Daughter // Elaine Cuyegkeng ★★★★☆
What a way to start an anthology! This piece follows a woman whose job is to follow in her mother’s footsteps by creating and genetically altering people and animals, with or without their consent. There are a lot of metaphors here for expectations that are placed upon Asian women by society and sometimes their own families, and the lengths that a parent might go to for the “perfect” child.
→ Kapre: A Love Story // Rin Chupeco ★★★★★
This was absolutely lovely, yet so sad and full of yearning! Despite following a rather unsettling entity from Filipino folklore, this truly is a love story, and a beautifully wholesome one at that.
→ A Pet is for Life // Geneve Flynn ★★★★★
Hands down my favorite story in this collection. I went into this story about a lonely pet rescuer fully expecting it to go in one direction, and then it turned itself on its head and completely stunned me in the best way. The writing was beautiful, and I want an Abraham in my life.
→ Phoenix Claws // Lee Murray ★★★★☆
I could feel the tension and it was so easy to empathize with this main character as she dealt with watching her new significant other meet her family. I love the idea of how powerful a family’s superstitions can be, too. I only wish it hadn’t ended so abruptly!
→ Of Hunger and Fury // Grace Chan ★★★★☆
I’m going to be entirely honest and say I’m not fully sure what was happening here, but I enjoyed the ride nonetheless. We follow a woman who’s bringing her husband home to visit her mother and her ailing father, and she begins to have dreams about a local legend of a young girl who went missing.
→ Skin Dowdy // Angela Yuriko Smith ★★★★★
Oh, this one was so much fun and such an unsettling future to think about. It takes place in a near future setting where people get technology implants to change their appearances such as fiber optic filaments for hair, or contact lenses that allow them to display holographic images around themselves. I wasn’t rooting for anyone by the end of this one, but it was delightful.
→ Truth is Order and Order is Truth // Nadia Bulkin ★★★☆☆
This was the first of the more fantasy-heavy stories in the collection, and while I’ve really liked other stories by this author, this one didn’t quite hit for me, but I liked the bones of it. It picks up in the middle of the narrator’s journey as she leads her late parents’ kingdom to her mother’s homelands, and while I found it a bit long and meandering, I loved the reveal in the end.
→ Rites of Passage // Gabriela Lee ★★★☆☆
Sadly, this was another story that had potential, but I struggled with: in this case, because the story is split into three sections, and none of the protagonists have names, so I couldn’t tell if we were following three stories about the same young woman, or if this was a generation curse affecting multiple women (which is what I’m leaning towards). It was just a little speculative for my mood, but it definitely had some solid folklore elements I enjoyed.
→ The Ninth Tale // Rena Mason
I typically adore retellings of legends, especially ones surrounding deities or similar entities, but the writing style and I didn’t mesh at all here. I’m leaving the star rating off, though, because the writing style actually objectively matched the story very well, since a lot of old parables tend to be a bit hokey and over-the-top like this one, but it was a personal preference issue and that’s all.
→ Vanilla Rice // Angela Yuriko Smith ★★★★★
Imagine a world where pregnant women can buy microchips to alter their child’s DNA and then have it implanted immediately after birth, where they could have a baby that is born looking like its Asian mother and then tweak it to be a blond-haired, blue-eyed child. This story absolutely broke my heart, not only for the mother’s trauma and insecurity, but for her child’s loneliness, too. I loved it.
→ Fury // Christina Sng ★★☆☆☆
If this story was fleshed out into a 100-page novella or even a full novel, I would be first in line to read it, because I think it would have blown me away, but this zombie apocalypse tale was just too much for such a short span of pages. The action was non-stop, leaving little room for character development or backstory, and I just wanted so much more!
→ The Mark // Grace Chan ★★★★☆
This story follows a woman whose husband has suddenly become very unfamiliar to her, which is such a disturbing thought to me, as someone who has feared body-snatcher stories since I was a little kid! This one unsettled me in a big way, and I mostly loved it, but I knocked a star off for its use of a trope I hate (minor spoiler: (view spoiler)).
→ Frangipani Wishes // Lee Murray ★★★★☆
I really loved most of this story, but it lost me a little near the end! A young woman is kicked out for becoming pregnant out of wedlock and she has to find her way to a better life for herself and her child. It had me until the protagonist married, at which point I felt like her entire demeanor changed in an instant and I still don’t fully understand why. That said, the writing was gorgeous.
→ Little Worm // Geneve Flynn ★★★★★
This one was another favorite that I’m going to be thinking on for a while: a woman goes to visit her aging mother amidst fears that she may be developing dementia or some other health worries, and finds very bizarre behavior waiting for her there. I absolutely adored the ending of this story and would love to read more pieces about this particular lore.
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own.
✨ Representation: all authors and protagonists are southeast Asian, including Filipino, Malaysian, Indonesian, Chinese, Singaporean, and more forms of representation
→ The Genetic Alchemist’s Daughter // Elaine Cuyegkeng ★★★★☆
What a way to start an anthology! This piece follows a woman whose job is to follow in her mother’s footsteps by creating and genetically altering people and animals, with or without their consent. There are a lot of metaphors here for expectations that are placed upon Asian women by society and sometimes their own families, and the lengths that a parent might go to for the “perfect” child.
→ Kapre: A Love Story // Rin Chupeco ★★★★★
This was absolutely lovely, yet so sad and full of yearning! Despite following a rather unsettling entity from Filipino folklore, this truly is a love story, and a beautifully wholesome one at that.
→ A Pet is for Life // Geneve Flynn ★★★★★
Hands down my favorite story in this collection. I went into this story about a lonely pet rescuer fully expecting it to go in one direction, and then it turned itself on its head and completely stunned me in the best way. The writing was beautiful, and I want an Abraham in my life.
→ Phoenix Claws // Lee Murray ★★★★☆
I could feel the tension and it was so easy to empathize with this main character as she dealt with watching her new significant other meet her family. I love the idea of how powerful a family’s superstitions can be, too. I only wish it hadn’t ended so abruptly!
→ Of Hunger and Fury // Grace Chan ★★★★☆
I’m going to be entirely honest and say I’m not fully sure what was happening here, but I enjoyed the ride nonetheless. We follow a woman who’s bringing her husband home to visit her mother and her ailing father, and she begins to have dreams about a local legend of a young girl who went missing.
→ Skin Dowdy // Angela Yuriko Smith ★★★★★
Oh, this one was so much fun and such an unsettling future to think about. It takes place in a near future setting where people get technology implants to change their appearances such as fiber optic filaments for hair, or contact lenses that allow them to display holographic images around themselves. I wasn’t rooting for anyone by the end of this one, but it was delightful.
→ Truth is Order and Order is Truth // Nadia Bulkin ★★★☆☆
This was the first of the more fantasy-heavy stories in the collection, and while I’ve really liked other stories by this author, this one didn’t quite hit for me, but I liked the bones of it. It picks up in the middle of the narrator’s journey as she leads her late parents’ kingdom to her mother’s homelands, and while I found it a bit long and meandering, I loved the reveal in the end.
→ Rites of Passage // Gabriela Lee ★★★☆☆
Sadly, this was another story that had potential, but I struggled with: in this case, because the story is split into three sections, and none of the protagonists have names, so I couldn’t tell if we were following three stories about the same young woman, or if this was a generation curse affecting multiple women (which is what I’m leaning towards). It was just a little speculative for my mood, but it definitely had some solid folklore elements I enjoyed.
→ The Ninth Tale // Rena Mason
I typically adore retellings of legends, especially ones surrounding deities or similar entities, but the writing style and I didn’t mesh at all here. I’m leaving the star rating off, though, because the writing style actually objectively matched the story very well, since a lot of old parables tend to be a bit hokey and over-the-top like this one, but it was a personal preference issue and that’s all.
→ Vanilla Rice // Angela Yuriko Smith ★★★★★
Imagine a world where pregnant women can buy microchips to alter their child’s DNA and then have it implanted immediately after birth, where they could have a baby that is born looking like its Asian mother and then tweak it to be a blond-haired, blue-eyed child. This story absolutely broke my heart, not only for the mother’s trauma and insecurity, but for her child’s loneliness, too. I loved it.
→ Fury // Christina Sng ★★☆☆☆
If this story was fleshed out into a 100-page novella or even a full novel, I would be first in line to read it, because I think it would have blown me away, but this zombie apocalypse tale was just too much for such a short span of pages. The action was non-stop, leaving little room for character development or backstory, and I just wanted so much more!
→ The Mark // Grace Chan ★★★★☆
This story follows a woman whose husband has suddenly become very unfamiliar to her, which is such a disturbing thought to me, as someone who has feared body-snatcher stories since I was a little kid! This one unsettled me in a big way, and I mostly loved it, but I knocked a star off for its use of a trope I hate (minor spoiler: (view spoiler)).
→ Frangipani Wishes // Lee Murray ★★★★☆
I really loved most of this story, but it lost me a little near the end! A young woman is kicked out for becoming pregnant out of wedlock and she has to find her way to a better life for herself and her child. It had me until the protagonist married, at which point I felt like her entire demeanor changed in an instant and I still don’t fully understand why. That said, the writing was gorgeous.
→ Little Worm // Geneve Flynn ★★★★★
This one was another favorite that I’m going to be thinking on for a while: a woman goes to visit her aging mother amidst fears that she may be developing dementia or some other health worries, and finds very bizarre behavior waiting for her there. I absolutely adored the ending of this story and would love to read more pieces about this particular lore.
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own.
✨ Representation: all authors and protagonists are southeast Asian, including Filipino, Malaysian, Indonesian, Chinese, Singaporean, and more forms of representation
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
DNF @ 60%
I typically have two rules for DNFing books: I don't usually give them star ratings, and I almost never put them on my "read" shelf for my reading goal. I'm cutting myself some slack on this one, though, because I read nearly 300 pages of this book and it was a challenge.
Witch King is a book that I hoped to love, and by all reasoning, I should have adored this. Few things make me happier in stories than demons and antiheroes, especially when both are present in the same character, so if you combine that with Kai's dry humor, protective nature, and hopeful-against-all-odds attitude, this demon prince should have gone down in the "Destiny's favorite fictional characters of all time" Hall of Fame. And yet, even everything I loved about Kaiisteron couldn't redeem this book from dreadfully slow, boring writing and a plot I couldn't connect to, no matter how hard I tried.
Like many others, I've at least dipped my toes into Wells' Murderbot series, and I found the writing so witty and engaging in the first novella that I assumed all of her books would be equally well-paced, but this felt like I was reading an entirely different author's work. There were brief moments of the deadpan humor here and there that I loved, but they were few and far between. Mostly, Witch King was endless info-dumping, far too many characters to keep track of, and flashbacks to Kai's past that I wish had been cut out altogether in favor of better story buildup in the story's current day.
This was one of the toughest DNF choices I've made in a long time, because again, Witch King was brimming over with potential for greatness, but it missed the mark for me in so many ways that I can't bring myself to care enough to continue trudging through.
I read a final copy I purchased myself, but for the sake of disclosure, I was also sent an early review copy by the author/publisher. All thoughts are honest and my own.
✨ Representation: queer main character, sapphic side characters, casual queerness in many side characters, multiple BIPOC main and side characters
I typically have two rules for DNFing books: I don't usually give them star ratings, and I almost never put them on my "read" shelf for my reading goal. I'm cutting myself some slack on this one, though, because I read nearly 300 pages of this book and it was a challenge.
Witch King is a book that I hoped to love, and by all reasoning, I should have adored this. Few things make me happier in stories than demons and antiheroes, especially when both are present in the same character, so if you combine that with Kai's dry humor, protective nature, and hopeful-against-all-odds attitude, this demon prince should have gone down in the "Destiny's favorite fictional characters of all time" Hall of Fame. And yet, even everything I loved about Kaiisteron couldn't redeem this book from dreadfully slow, boring writing and a plot I couldn't connect to, no matter how hard I tried.
Like many others, I've at least dipped my toes into Wells' Murderbot series, and I found the writing so witty and engaging in the first novella that I assumed all of her books would be equally well-paced, but this felt like I was reading an entirely different author's work. There were brief moments of the deadpan humor here and there that I loved, but they were few and far between. Mostly, Witch King was endless info-dumping, far too many characters to keep track of, and flashbacks to Kai's past that I wish had been cut out altogether in favor of better story buildup in the story's current day.
This was one of the toughest DNF choices I've made in a long time, because again, Witch King was brimming over with potential for greatness, but it missed the mark for me in so many ways that I can't bring myself to care enough to continue trudging through.
I read a final copy I purchased myself, but for the sake of disclosure, I was also sent an early review copy by the author/publisher. All thoughts are honest and my own.
✨ Representation: queer main character, sapphic side characters, casual queerness in many side characters, multiple BIPOC main and side characters
adventurous
emotional
tense
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:
Complicated
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
"Mind your tongue."
"Where are your manners?"
"If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."
As a Southerner, I've heard all the sayings, and I grew up witnessing firsthand the repercussions of impoliteness. "Southern hospitality" runs deep in the blood of most of the people I've spent my life around, and people even crack jokes about how we're courteous to a fault, turning niceties into passive-aggressive barbs.
But what happens when that politeness goes too far and gets us into situations we aren't safe in?
Ask any woman and she'll tell you that being "too nice" has landed her in hot water a time or two (what other choice does she have?). On the other hand, ask anyone from a marginalized group (especially people of color) and they'll have stories about the times they've been tone policed, told that people would listen to them "if you'd just word it nicer". So many of us live our lives constantly trying to straddle the line between politeness and not being a doormat, but No Trouble at All's stories show us what happens when courtesy is used against us.
While a couple of stories missed the mark for me in this anthology, for the most part, it was a slam dunk. I loved most of the stories in this collection and was blown away by how well these authors captured relatable (and painful) life experiences, especially those surrounding objectification of girls and women, and how far it can go when adults don't protect the children in our society from it, such as my favorite story in here, 'The Man Outside' by Simone le Roux.
A few other stand-out gems were 'An Inherited Taste' by Nadine Aurora Tabing (in which women literally eat their loved ones' sorrows), 'Acid Skin' by Marisca Pichette (a brilliant, angry commentary on rape culture), 'The Guest Room' by R.L. Meza (a harrowing look at how powerless children are when adults don't listen), and 'Welcome to the New You' by Gwendolyn Kiste (a delightfully fresh take on doppelgangers).
All in all, I highly recommend this collection to anyone who enjoys horror short stories, and I'm so happy I had the chance to read it. There are so many new authors on my TBR and I can't wait to read more work by them, just like I can't wait for the next anthology I pick up from Cursed Morsels Press!
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own.
✨ Representation: BIPOC characters, queer characters, ace rep in 'Acid Skin'
"Where are your manners?"
"If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."
As a Southerner, I've heard all the sayings, and I grew up witnessing firsthand the repercussions of impoliteness. "Southern hospitality" runs deep in the blood of most of the people I've spent my life around, and people even crack jokes about how we're courteous to a fault, turning niceties into passive-aggressive barbs.
But what happens when that politeness goes too far and gets us into situations we aren't safe in?
Ask any woman and she'll tell you that being "too nice" has landed her in hot water a time or two (what other choice does she have?). On the other hand, ask anyone from a marginalized group (especially people of color) and they'll have stories about the times they've been tone policed, told that people would listen to them "if you'd just word it nicer". So many of us live our lives constantly trying to straddle the line between politeness and not being a doormat, but No Trouble at All's stories show us what happens when courtesy is used against us.
While a couple of stories missed the mark for me in this anthology, for the most part, it was a slam dunk. I loved most of the stories in this collection and was blown away by how well these authors captured relatable (and painful) life experiences, especially those surrounding objectification of girls and women, and how far it can go when adults don't protect the children in our society from it, such as my favorite story in here, 'The Man Outside' by Simone le Roux.
A few other stand-out gems were 'An Inherited Taste' by Nadine Aurora Tabing (in which women literally eat their loved ones' sorrows), 'Acid Skin' by Marisca Pichette (a brilliant, angry commentary on rape culture), 'The Guest Room' by R.L. Meza (a harrowing look at how powerless children are when adults don't listen), and 'Welcome to the New You' by Gwendolyn Kiste (a delightfully fresh take on doppelgangers).
All in all, I highly recommend this collection to anyone who enjoys horror short stories, and I'm so happy I had the chance to read it. There are so many new authors on my TBR and I can't wait to read more work by them, just like I can't wait for the next anthology I pick up from Cursed Morsels Press!
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own.
✨ Representation: BIPOC characters, queer characters, ace rep in 'Acid Skin'
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Violence, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder
Minor: Rape
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
The more I think about this book, the more frustrated I feel by it, and while I have a general rule of not giving low ratings to memoirs (because, as many other reviewers have mentioned, it feels odd to "rate" another human being's life experiences!), I have to make an exception for SCN.
First, let me get the obvious bit out of the way: Faith Jones' childhood was a horrifying example of what happens when religion and rape culture mix, and my heart aches for her and every other person who has been through similar experiences. I commend her on the courage it must have taken to write this book in the first place.
Now, I'm going to be brutally honest: this book was a chore to read and I felt like it was never going to end. The writing is dry and sterile, the dialogue is stilted, and at risk of sounding unkind, it felt to me that Jones attempts to control the narrative by sweeping things under the rug that she doesn't want to focus on.
The book starts off with Jones telling us that she has forgiven her parents and has a good relationship with them today, and as the book goes on, that introductory piece feels more and more defensive as her parents are revealed to be incredibly abusive people who never actually seem to understand where they went wrong. Maybe I'm too hung up on one particular incident, but am I actually supposed to feel an inkling of empathy or kindness towards two adults who literally had sex in front of their toddler to "teach" her about "God's love"?
That complaint leads me to my next point, which is that the child sexual abuse in this book is presented in the worst, most graphic way. I have no issue at all with survivors recounting their experiences in matter-of-fact ways, but the way Jones dwells on the most graphic elements of these memories felt unnecessary and I was immensely uncomfortable reading them. I saw one reviewer say that it read less like a memoir and more like an evidence file at these times, and I agree with that sentiment.
Finally, this is the part of the review I'm most hesitant to write because I know Jones is the heroine of this story and we're meant to be amazed by her endurance and courage in the end, but it's very difficult to enjoy reading Jones' narrative when she comes across as such a judgmental, arrogant individual. Examples:
• she clearly others the people of many of the locations she has lived in around the world and has a "savior" complex
• judges her college friends for not being as studious as she is (and therefore "lazy") because they smoked pot
• obsessively fat-shames a former partner (and was so unkind to him while they were together that he admits to developing severe anorexia after their relationship - I'm not saying anyone is to "blame" for another person's mental health struggles, but this is a screaming red flag to me)
• is very judgmental towards individuals struggling with drug addictions
• brags about how "difficult" she was as a student because she was convinced that she deserved only perfect grades
• overall has a very "bootstraps" mentality towards her college years despite the fact that she was given money, cheap or free housing, and a multitude of opportunities by family members, friends of family, etc. throughout the entire process
All of that culminates in the final section of the book, where she talks about healing and overcoming her trauma, which had some really powerful and inspirational moments that would have hit me a lot harder if she hadn't also spent that section defending some elements of the abuse she underwent (such as the "child sex games", which she essentially states weren't abuse because the kids consented to each other's advances, despite the fact that children can not consent, period, and having small children engage in sexual activity isn't less abusive just because they had fun doing it!).
To bring it all around, I'll say it again: I'm glad that Faith Jones got out of this horrific cult and it breaks my heart that she underwent such terrible abuse. I simply think that this book would have benefited tremendously from being written as a biography instead of an autobiography, perhaps with a middle person between Jones herself and the writing to step in from time to time and hold the reins back a little. I don't recommend this book and honestly regret picking it up, if only for the way some of the CSA depictions in the writing triggered me and will unfortunately stick with me for a long time to come.
First, let me get the obvious bit out of the way: Faith Jones' childhood was a horrifying example of what happens when religion and rape culture mix, and my heart aches for her and every other person who has been through similar experiences. I commend her on the courage it must have taken to write this book in the first place.
Now, I'm going to be brutally honest: this book was a chore to read and I felt like it was never going to end. The writing is dry and sterile, the dialogue is stilted, and at risk of sounding unkind, it felt to me that Jones attempts to control the narrative by sweeping things under the rug that she doesn't want to focus on.
The book starts off with Jones telling us that she has forgiven her parents and has a good relationship with them today, and as the book goes on, that introductory piece feels more and more defensive as her parents are revealed to be incredibly abusive people who never actually seem to understand where they went wrong. Maybe I'm too hung up on one particular incident, but am I actually supposed to feel an inkling of empathy or kindness towards two adults who literally had sex in front of their toddler to "teach" her about "God's love"?
That complaint leads me to my next point, which is that the child sexual abuse in this book is presented in the worst, most graphic way. I have no issue at all with survivors recounting their experiences in matter-of-fact ways, but the way Jones dwells on the most graphic elements of these memories felt unnecessary and I was immensely uncomfortable reading them. I saw one reviewer say that it read less like a memoir and more like an evidence file at these times, and I agree with that sentiment.
Finally, this is the part of the review I'm most hesitant to write because I know Jones is the heroine of this story and we're meant to be amazed by her endurance and courage in the end, but it's very difficult to enjoy reading Jones' narrative when she comes across as such a judgmental, arrogant individual. Examples:
• she clearly others the people of many of the locations she has lived in around the world and has a "savior" complex
• judges her college friends for not being as studious as she is (and therefore "lazy") because they smoked pot
• obsessively fat-shames a former partner (and was so unkind to him while they were together that he admits to developing severe anorexia after their relationship - I'm not saying anyone is to "blame" for another person's mental health struggles, but this is a screaming red flag to me)
• is very judgmental towards individuals struggling with drug addictions
• brags about how "difficult" she was as a student because she was convinced that she deserved only perfect grades
• overall has a very "bootstraps" mentality towards her college years despite the fact that she was given money, cheap or free housing, and a multitude of opportunities by family members, friends of family, etc. throughout the entire process
All of that culminates in the final section of the book, where she talks about healing and overcoming her trauma, which had some really powerful and inspirational moments that would have hit me a lot harder if she hadn't also spent that section defending some elements of the abuse she underwent (such as the "child sex games", which she essentially states weren't abuse because the kids consented to each other's advances, despite the fact that children can not consent, period, and having small children engage in sexual activity isn't less abusive just because they had fun doing it!).
To bring it all around, I'll say it again: I'm glad that Faith Jones got out of this horrific cult and it breaks my heart that she underwent such terrible abuse. I simply think that this book would have benefited tremendously from being written as a biography instead of an autobiography, perhaps with a middle person between Jones herself and the writing to step in from time to time and hold the reins back a little. I don't recommend this book and honestly regret picking it up, if only for the way some of the CSA depictions in the writing triggered me and will unfortunately stick with me for a long time to come.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Murder
I didn't even really get a chance to find out what this story was about because I got so irritated at the abusive main character's jokes about domestic violence. Nah, I'm good.
I have a slew of KPB's short stories on my kindle and I try to pace myself going through them, because I dread the day that I run out. No matter the length, I always know I'm going to end up endeared to the characters, and whatever tragedy befalls them will make my heart ache even as it creeps me out - just like this story.
I will never emotionally recover from this.
Hmmmm... this was pretty, but not for me. I love the concept of this massive, hideous demon being the gentle, sweet one, while the human is the "beast", but I'm a little too soft-hearted for just how unkind Liam is to Cavo (and I don't love how little regard Liam seems to hold for consent). I don't think I'll continue the series, but I can see why others would love it.