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akizato's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I liked the overarching exploration of gender and living with invisible disability but man the pacing really ruined this for me. We spend pages upon pages of the main character waxing lyrical on various topics (the female presentation stuff felt very early 2000s feminism) while doing the same thing over and over, and then at the last minute they get beaten to near death for some unexplained reason, spend a millisecond recovering, and then, after a sex scene that is as close to rape as it can get without being there, the main character is murdered by their assailant. The queer allegory character goes cruising and gets assaulted and then murdered. What was the point? I get that it's horror and that doesn't usually have a happy ending, but this went literally nowhere. The character didn't grow or change, and the ending didn't seem particularly earned after the drudgery of what came before. I put up with a heavier amount of gore and sex scenes that were basically also gore in how viscerally they were described, and for what??
This felt like a first draft that could do with some expansion to explore the more interesting parts.
I will praise the translation though, which is part of the reason it even gets 2 stars. Representing the exhaustion and alien-ness with the font getting all weird was really well done, it's a really good translation!
This felt like a first draft that could do with some expansion to explore the more interesting parts.
I will praise the translation though, which is part of the reason it even gets 2 stars. Representing the exhaustion and alien-ness with the font getting all weird was really well done, it's a really good translation!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Cannibalism, Murder, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, and Hate crime
Minor: Excrement and Sexual harassment
spnopineapples's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I really liked this book. Clearly. Given i finished it in a day, which the fact that there are only 160 pages of story print to its name shouldn't detract from. Just because a book is short doesn't mean it can be easily consumed (waves a couple Shakespeare and CS Lewis books in this reader's direction). But I consumed this. Found it in the library while looking for the second book in the Discovery of Witches trilogy which was SUPPOSED to be my hyper fixation. It was the cover art that drew me which, awesomely enough, is done by the original author Dolki Min. The translator (Victoria Caudle) did an excellent job and her note at the end is worth a read. The story itself is violent and fast paced and vividly, grotesquely sexual but there are lines and passages that absolutely floored me. I connected to the main character alien's thoughts. Between its ideas on humans' persistence when it comes to identifying gender and what it means to be one or the other or something entirely different to its brooding thoughts that ooze loneliness and encapsulates what it means to be in regretful solitude; this book drew me. The ending was quite abrupt but honestly not as big of an letdown as it would be in other books because I wasn't here for the plot. I was here for this sexdriven, hungry for human flesh alien's shattered and incoherent trains of thought. And its dissatisfaction with stairs.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror and Vomit
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
bateleanor's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Amazing. Disturbing. Beautiful. Horrifying. Relatable in the worst ways. Visceral. Tangible. Philosophical and heartbreaking. I am recommending this book to all my strangest friends. I think we will understand it better together.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Excrement, Vomit, Abandonment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
mar's review
dark
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
while it works really well within the story, the visceral, graphic grotesqueness just wasn't my thing; definitely my shortcoming, not the book's. still, i loved the way the author & translator play with the form, and the exploration of transness and disability really hit home
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fatphobia, Hate crime, and Excrement
samgray's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
jrmar739's review against another edition
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Sexual content, Violence, and Blood
amme's review against another edition
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Found the book to be both fun and grotesque. The way the author used the alien to discuss social anxiety, dating, loneliness, and gender identity was very compelling.
Where the book lost me was the glaring fatphobia from the alien. It felt incredibly disjointed coming from the same alien that has been spouting critiques on our societal structures for the entire book.
If you can't do gore, skip this one.
Where the book lost me was the glaring fatphobia from the alien. It felt incredibly disjointed coming from the same alien that has been spouting critiques on our societal structures for the entire book.
If you can't do gore, skip this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Fatphobia
Minor: Ableism and Cannibalism
rosie_valadez's review against another edition
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Fatphobia, Transphobia, and Blood
Minor: Cannibalism
messymimms's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
“Have you gotten the gist of what I look like? I am a being that always requires friendly explanation. If I do not explain, no one understands me. […] You are the default life form. You are the centre of the universe. It must be so0O0o0O0o0O0o nice.”
This was an oddly fun and grotesque book, which I felt peaked pretty early on.
The main character goes on a lot of tangents, some of which are funny, poignant or philosophical. Many just didn’t hit for me, and as a result it ended feeling a bit disjointed.
The concept of an alien struggling with earth gravity and relying on the bodies of strangers to survive was evocative, and the parallels with themes of queer and trans belonging felt obvious and important. I only wish there had been more about disability.
Something that took me aback was a fat woman being described as a rhinoceros, and then an elephant. For a creature who critically analyses Earth beauty standards, that seemed a strange choice. The portrayal was sloppy; fatphobic and boring. I’m not sure a 340kg alien covered in hair (nor their author) is one to judge.
This was an oddly fun and grotesque book, which I felt peaked pretty early on.
The main character goes on a lot of tangents, some of which are funny, poignant or philosophical. Many just didn’t hit for me, and as a result it ended feeling a bit disjointed.
The concept of an alien struggling with earth gravity and relying on the bodies of strangers to survive was evocative, and the parallels with themes of queer and trans belonging felt obvious and important. I only wish there had been more about disability.
Something that took me aback was a fat woman being described as a rhinoceros, and then an elephant. For a creature who critically analyses Earth beauty standards, that seemed a strange choice. The portrayal was sloppy; fatphobic and boring. I’m not sure a 340kg alien covered in hair (nor their author) is one to judge.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder
burglar_hobbit's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual content, and Murder