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1109 reviews
Fluids by May Leitz
1.25
I probably should give up on splatterpunk/extreme horror. I've tried to access it through different avenues that I know I enjoy otherwise (usually lesbian + trans characters) but I keep striking out when I actually read them. Too often, and especially in this case, the writing does not carry me through the book (even with novellas!) and by the end I'm bored and skimming over the extreme scenes because I simply do not care.
the author for this one has a bad habit of doing these huge chunks of simple, single sentences all separated out so it takes up a big portion of the page. by the time I was about 60% through, any time I saw one of those chunks coming up I got annoyed. it's obviously meant for emphasis, but the simplistic sentences ("She's with me. She wants me. She wants to be with me now. She loves me." <- only about half the "chunk" or "I put on all her favorite things. I became her. I wore her makeup. I wore her perfume.") started to grate very quickly, especially b/c they're not all that different from the rest of the writing. So as you're reading, you'd suddenly get to one of these huge rows of simple sentences and it just stops any semblance of pacing or tension dead in its tracks, pulling you out of any emotions you might be feeling.
I didn't care for the characters, which is a more personal matter. I initially wrote out a lot more on this but I don't feel like I'm getting across my issues well so I'm just going to say they annoyed me intensely and I didn't like being in the head of either of them, not even from a morbid curiosity angle. character motivations would change on a dime and there were a lot of decisions made that felt totally out-of-the-blue and ridiculous (yeah, ridiculousness and over-the-top antics are part of this genre, but I'd like SOME basis for it).
The story had a little going for it in the beginning but once they get to the casino it all falls apart. Everything starts to drag as people are going in and out of different hotel rooms and picking up random side characters. These women are wandering around in public covered in gore and missing limbs but no one seems to notice or care until the end b/c that would make the rest of the plot impossible. I've seen people refer to a "twist" at some point but I don't really know what it was since nothing that happened felt like a big reveal or twist.
I feel like this kind of extreme horror works better for me in visual mediums where I'm not inside the character's head. Once people try to write the thoughts of these types of characters it falls into edgelord territory incredibly quickly because writing these kinds of things is difficult and requires a deft hand. I don't like the accusation people level at a lot of splatterpunk/extreme horror writers that they just write it for shock value and there's nothing else going on because I do think some authors of these works have greater intentions behind them (especially in this case, where so much of the story seemed to be based on personal experiences of the trans author) but even with that being the case it's still very easy to fall into cringy dialogue that makes me laugh more than feel disgust or horror.
In short, I need characters I care about for the extreme horror parts to mean anything to me. A decent plot in there would be nice too, but the characters matter the most. I simply am not going to care about whatever depraved things they do to each other or other people if the characters mean nothing to me. That's what I mean when I say I get bored by the end - there's just too much overwhelming content for any of it to mean anything if there's no connection to the characters. It might as well be a baby sensory video at that point, just something that washes over me but nothing I absorb. Anyone can write characters doing the most fucked up things to each other; it takes skill for it to mean something because the audience has connected with said characters. Sadly, that skill was not present in this book.
the author for this one has a bad habit of doing these huge chunks of simple, single sentences all separated out so it takes up a big portion of the page. by the time I was about 60% through, any time I saw one of those chunks coming up I got annoyed. it's obviously meant for emphasis, but the simplistic sentences ("She's with me. She wants me. She wants to be with me now. She loves me." <- only about half the "chunk" or "I put on all her favorite things. I became her. I wore her makeup. I wore her perfume.") started to grate very quickly, especially b/c they're not all that different from the rest of the writing. So as you're reading, you'd suddenly get to one of these huge rows of simple sentences and it just stops any semblance of pacing or tension dead in its tracks, pulling you out of any emotions you might be feeling.
I didn't care for the characters, which is a more personal matter. I initially wrote out a lot more on this but I don't feel like I'm getting across my issues well so I'm just going to say they annoyed me intensely and I didn't like being in the head of either of them, not even from a morbid curiosity angle. character motivations would change on a dime and there were a lot of decisions made that felt totally out-of-the-blue and ridiculous (yeah, ridiculousness and over-the-top antics are part of this genre, but I'd like SOME basis for it).
The story had a little going for it in the beginning but once they get to the casino it all falls apart. Everything starts to drag as people are going in and out of different hotel rooms and picking up random side characters. These women are wandering around in public covered in gore and missing limbs but no one seems to notice or care until the end b/c that would make the rest of the plot impossible. I've seen people refer to a "twist" at some point but I don't really know what it was since nothing that happened felt like a big reveal or twist.
I feel like this kind of extreme horror works better for me in visual mediums where I'm not inside the character's head. Once people try to write the thoughts of these types of characters it falls into edgelord territory incredibly quickly because writing these kinds of things is difficult and requires a deft hand. I don't like the accusation people level at a lot of splatterpunk/extreme horror writers that they just write it for shock value and there's nothing else going on because I do think some authors of these works have greater intentions behind them (especially in this case, where so much of the story seemed to be based on personal experiences of the trans author) but even with that being the case it's still very easy to fall into cringy dialogue that makes me laugh more than feel disgust or horror.
In short, I need characters I care about for the extreme horror parts to mean anything to me. A decent plot in there would be nice too, but the characters matter the most. I simply am not going to care about whatever depraved things they do to each other or other people if the characters mean nothing to me. That's what I mean when I say I get bored by the end - there's just too much overwhelming content for any of it to mean anything if there's no connection to the characters. It might as well be a baby sensory video at that point, just something that washes over me but nothing I absorb. Anyone can write characters doing the most fucked up things to each other; it takes skill for it to mean something because the audience has connected with said characters. Sadly, that skill was not present in this book.
Slam! Vol. 1 by Pamela Ribon
2.5
beautiful colors and lovely artwork are not enough to make up for a sloppy story that doesn't flesh characters out enough to make the drama interesting. i really disliked that the only black woman w/ anything important to do in the story is painted as overly aggressive and angry. also having a roller derby story with no dykes should be a crime.
Organ Meats by K-Ming Chang
Did not finish book. Stopped at 14%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 14%.
soft dnf - not in the right head space for this one rn
The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler
2.5
2.5 rounded down. This really isn't what I was expecting it to be - neither an interesting sci-fi romp based on the strange premise nor the character study it could have been (similar to Feed Them Silence by Lee Mandelo). Instead, it's basically a treatise on why poaching is bad.
There are far too many characters for this slim volume and none are particularly interesting, not even the woman that has been put in the body of a mammoth. There's a lot of musing on memory and family as well as a lot of mammoths crushing people to death. It really asks the reader to suspend their disbelief over the events occurring (there really isn't any kind of elephant or mammoth expert in the future? They really only have this one random woman's consciousness to use? They're really just letting the incredibly-expensive-to-create mammoths roam free when poaching is such a huge issue, even this far in the future?) but doesn't give us much to focus on otherwise. The writing is also oddly repetitive for such a small book (if I had to read about how the mammoths were like a hole in the sky/environment/landscape one more time...).
Such an interesting premise that ends up pretty disappointing. Still, it's very short, so if this intrigues you at all it at least won't take up a ton of your time.
There are far too many characters for this slim volume and none are particularly interesting, not even the woman that has been put in the body of a mammoth. There's a lot of musing on memory and family as well as a lot of mammoths crushing people to death. It really asks the reader to suspend their disbelief over the events occurring (there really isn't any kind of elephant or mammoth expert in the future? They really only have this one random woman's consciousness to use? They're really just letting the incredibly-expensive-to-create mammoths roam free when poaching is such a huge issue, even this far in the future?) but doesn't give us much to focus on otherwise. The writing is also oddly repetitive for such a small book (if I had to read about how the mammoths were like a hole in the sky/environment/landscape one more time...).
Such an interesting premise that ends up pretty disappointing. Still, it's very short, so if this intrigues you at all it at least won't take up a ton of your time.
The Summer Hikaru Died, Vol. 1 by Mokumokuren
5.0
unnerving in the best way. could very easily be classified as folk horror with the small, rural setting + deals with a lot of repressed romantic/sexual feelings in the MC (reminds me of Wickerman in that sense). I love how the sound effects were used in such an oppressive manner, sometimes dominating entire panels and really making you feel the stifling heat of the summer setting. the art is superb and really adds to the overall mood - the mangaka also isn't afraid to let scenes linger in the best ways. definitely looking forward to reading more of this!