Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream: Stories

I read through the whole collection. I can definitely see this writer being very divisive for people.

All the stories are quite dark. The titular one in particular is forlorn and grotesque, even downright chilling at times. AM is a very compelling villain. I can see how this story has influenced the scifi genre in its infancy.

There’s an overarching theme to all of his stories: highlighting the underlying darkness that is human nature. That being said: most of the women aren’t portrayed fondly. Sexual violence and name-calling are common. They're very much written by a bitter man scorned. However, these misogynistic men aren’t portrayed as likable either. If anything, it reads like a nihilistic and forlorn man projecting his self-hatred onto women.

To reiterate: these stories are divisive and misogyny is the dividing line.

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gwrhyr's review against another edition

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dark sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

Really, really good villain, but most of the story itself is mediocre at best.

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o_romeo's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.25

Hard to read and misogynistic. The eponymous short story 'I have no mouth and I must scream' is good, as expected, but the rest is uncompelling and grating.

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deeity's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

okay OTHER THAN the misogyny (cuz it really threw me off, wtf man) this is a good story. i love the premise, i love the audio narration, and i love the vibes. the concept reminds me of Roku’s Basilisk. i used to think “pshh i’ll just die if that happens, idc” but apparently someone changed the idea to the basilisk torturing you for eternity instead of just killing you. now, delving into what life could be like being perpetually tortured by a god-like AI, i don’t really take the idea lightly anymore

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abicaro17's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is just as good as everyone says it is. As a group of humans are kept alive by the sentient robot that destroyed the world, they're tortured by endless life, lack of sunlight, and AM themself. It's a horrifying take on technology and human nature but it's necessary and a fun short read. Also Harlan Ellisons voice is worth a listen anyways!

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livelaughomo's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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bsquiggle's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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memyreads's review against another edition

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I started the audio book and barely made it 45 mins in. There's an extremely long introduction and forward from the author and a critic or something. I tried listening but it just drug on with both talking about how the author himself had a tragic accident (never said what it was) and how he fell into a dark place for a long time and how it influenced his book and how everyone loved it. Not knocking him for having mental issues after a traumatic event, just saying it could have been conveyed better, as it was it came across kind of edgy and cringy.

Finally, I made it to the actual story....and was quite disappointed. I couldn't get past the writing style first of all. Again, it was presented in an edgy, cringy fashion as if the main male char was the smartest, most logical, most athletic, most handsome person in the world. Which, story wise, could have been true as the only plot element I could gather was that some AI somehow, destroyed the whole world and there were only 4 characters left: our main Chad, a diabolical genius, a man damaged by radiation and the token blonde female. And this is what tripped me up, the way not only the characters but also the author treats the female char. There were so many misogynistic things said and done to this char that I won't repeat as I found it quite disgusting. It made the author come across as some extreme INCEL who was using this writing as some type of self inserted daydream scenario. Needless to say, I found this very off-putting and won't be returning to it.

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