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cryscries's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Always like supporting indie publications. Maiming picked it up for rafael nicolás who wrote angels before man but it was so nice to be introduced to so many other writers as well. Not sure how to explain an anthology but I feel like it’s always great to discover new writers. A plus is that each story has any content warnings before hand as well which was neat.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Body horror, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Dysphoria
All chapters have a content warning before you read.puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Blood, and Sexual content
Moderate: Colonisation, Religious bigotry, and Cannibalism
Minor: Vomit, Violence, Transphobia, Sexual violence, Murder, Confinement, and Medical content
ashleystory's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
Firstly, thank you to Quinton Li for a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Devout is a blasphemously gorgeous anthology that I enjoyed very much. A queerful mix of prose, poetry, non-fiction, and art dedicated to the most iconic and misunderstood beings- angels. Genres range from contemporary paranormal romance to dark fantasy, gothic horror to science fiction. There is bound to be something here for everyone's tastes.
Standout stories for me were "The Angel of Harvest Church" by Freydis Moon, "Seasons of God" by Angela Sun, "Resta Con Me" by Ian Haramaki, "Misery in Company" by Morgan Dante, "An angel song from the ether" by Rafael Nicolas, and "Pieces" by Emily Hoffman.
CW for each story/poem that needs it is provided by the author and is marked before the stories begin.
I so enjoyed Devout and will revisit my favorite stories often.
Devout will be published August 29,2023
Devout is a blasphemously gorgeous anthology that I enjoyed very much. A queerful mix of prose, poetry, non-fiction, and art dedicated to the most iconic and misunderstood beings- angels. Genres range from contemporary paranormal romance to dark fantasy, gothic horror to science fiction. There is bound to be something here for everyone's tastes.
Standout stories for me were "The Angel of Harvest Church" by Freydis Moon, "Seasons of God" by Angela Sun, "Resta Con Me" by Ian Haramaki, "Misery in Company" by Morgan Dante, "An angel song from the ether" by Rafael Nicolas, and "Pieces" by Emily Hoffman.
CW for each story/poem that needs it is provided by the author and is marked before the stories begin.
I so enjoyed Devout and will revisit my favorite stories often.
Devout will be published August 29,2023
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Sexual content, and Violence
fromthefoxhole's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
MASSIVE thanks to Quinton Li for being added to the Devout Arc team, it has been so fun to just shout at each other in the discord.
OKAY I HAVE FINALLY FINISHED. First, I'll give you my thoughts per piece:
The Angels at Harvest Church - oh holy shit, okay. my religious trauma is already losing its mind. Freydís always has the most lyrical prose.
I Know My Father - the story of Jacob wrestling the angel always messed with me, spoke to me intimately. I'm so glad it's not just me.
Seasons of God - Angela Sun, you have a new fan. The prose??? The horror? My god.
Resta Con Me - I called the twist but it was still done perfectly.
Seraphim - and yet, be not afraid.
Wings Like Madeleines - Heart wrenchingly relatable. "A gnarled creature in the middle of a perfect crowd." - please get out of my head.
And the Mountains Melt Like Wax - stunning. Abel meets an angel, fallen to earth, and something within him is healed.
The Mountains, The Mountains, The Mountains - “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
We Suffer in Fire - There are consequences to taking the Lord's judgement into your own hands.
Divine Body - I've always thought that love and sex were in and of themselves a holy act. Delightful to know I'm not alone in that.
Halfway to Heaven - ugh ouch. unrequited love hurts so good
Fade to Black - Is there anything that exists that could make the devil happy? Is there anywhere that he might find belonging? If we mortals too cannot find such a spot amongst our own, perhaps the pairing of human and demon might provide some solace.
Misery In Company - If God predestines all, then surely He knows the outcome of any bet made with Him. Might we gamble anyway?
Enfleshed - A creation myth, an offering.
Swarm Behavior - I would read a whole book of this. I'm so upset it's over 😭
Recovered Contents From an Angel's Stomach - Another one I wish had a whole book. Absolutely disgusting and visceral and I want more.
An Angel Song from the Ether - I want to bite this poem. I want to bite and shake it like a dog with a bird in its teeth.
Hashem Yireh - Yitzchak is freed from the mantle of "eldest son", able instead to live out her name's meaning as "one who rejoices".
Pieces - I NEED MORE OF THIS. I would read a whole series of these two oh my god??? Gory by the end, which I loved.
Paradises - Choosing this piece as the end cap was BRILLIANT. I love the idea of Gabriel being a caretaker and a lover, needing space to breathe and become more himself.
MASSIVE thanks to Quinton Li for being added to the Devout Arc team, it has been so fun to just shout at each other in the discord.
Now, my thoughts on Devout as a collective. I am someone with quite a bit of religious trauma thanks to my upbringing, so I have a lot of Thoughts and Feelings about angels lol. I love that the authors here cover multiple faiths, and how many different interpretations exist in under 200 pages (for my e-arc at least). We get prose and poetry, direct references to Scripture and Faust, sci fi imaginings and viscerally gripping body horror. I ate every morsel up and licked my fingers clean. Delicious. To quote Morgan's review, "banger. no notes" 😂
OKAY I HAVE FINALLY FINISHED. First, I'll give you my thoughts per piece:
The Angels at Harvest Church - oh holy shit, okay. my religious trauma is already losing its mind. Freydís always has the most lyrical prose.
I Know My Father - the story of Jacob wrestling the angel always messed with me, spoke to me intimately. I'm so glad it's not just me.
Seasons of God - Angela Sun, you have a new fan. The prose??? The horror? My god.
Resta Con Me - I called the twist but it was still done perfectly.
Seraphim - and yet, be not afraid.
Wings Like Madeleines - Heart wrenchingly relatable. "A gnarled creature in the middle of a perfect crowd." - please get out of my head.
And the Mountains Melt Like Wax - stunning. Abel meets an angel, fallen to earth, and something within him is healed.
The Mountains, The Mountains, The Mountains - “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
We Suffer in Fire - There are consequences to taking the Lord's judgement into your own hands.
Divine Body - I've always thought that love and sex were in and of themselves a holy act. Delightful to know I'm not alone in that.
Halfway to Heaven - ugh ouch. unrequited love hurts so good
Fade to Black - Is there anything that exists that could make the devil happy? Is there anywhere that he might find belonging? If we mortals too cannot find such a spot amongst our own, perhaps the pairing of human and demon might provide some solace.
Misery In Company - If God predestines all, then surely He knows the outcome of any bet made with Him. Might we gamble anyway?
Enfleshed - A creation myth, an offering.
Swarm Behavior - I would read a whole book of this. I'm so upset it's over 😭
Recovered Contents From an Angel's Stomach - Another one I wish had a whole book. Absolutely disgusting and visceral and I want more.
An Angel Song from the Ether - I want to bite this poem. I want to bite and shake it like a dog with a bird in its teeth.
Hashem Yireh - Yitzchak is freed from the mantle of "eldest son", able instead to live out her name's meaning as "one who rejoices".
Pieces - I NEED MORE OF THIS. I would read a whole series of these two oh my god??? Gory by the end, which I loved.
Paradises - Choosing this piece as the end cap was BRILLIANT. I love the idea of Gabriel being a caretaker and a lover, needing space to breathe and become more himself.
MASSIVE thanks to Quinton Li for being added to the Devout Arc team, it has been so fun to just shout at each other in the discord.
Now, my thoughts on Devout as a collective. I am someone with quite a bit of religious trauma thanks to my upbringing, so I have a lot of Thoughts and Feelings about angels lol. I love that the authors here cover multiple faiths, and how many different interpretations exist in under 200 pages (for my e-arc at least). We get prose and poetry, direct references to Scripture and Faust, sci fi imaginings and viscerally gripping body horror. I ate every morsel up and licked my fingers clean. Delicious. To quote Morgan's review, "banger. no notes" 😂
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Dysphoria, Death, Body horror, Sexual content, and Cursing
lycangrrl's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
An intriguing, profound anthology about angels and inherently queer in content. I enjoyed reading works from authors I already knew (Freydís Moon, rafael nicolás, Morgan Dante) and authors I was meeting for the first time (Emily Hoffman, Angela Sun, Dorian Yosef Weber, Ian Haramaki, Tyler Battaglia, Cas Trudeau, Rae Novotny, Daniel Marie James, Aurélio Loren). I enjoyed almost all of the stories and poems, even the ones I didn’t really understand. All of them were well written with provocative imagery. The only stories I truly didn’t like were Swarm Behavior and Recovered Contents and that was solely because of the bug and body horror content/imagery, not because they were bad stories, just not for me. I know others will certainly enjoy them.
A few of my favorite entries:
Paradises by rafael nicolás:
A few of my favorite entries:
Paradises by rafael nicolás:
Absolutely loved this beautiful story between Gabriel and the rain god Tláloc. Gabriel talking about how he loves too much and wants to stop being treated as a child. I just really enjoyed their story and the sex scene was beautifully written.
“Will I love you too little or too much?”
“Any love at all,” Gabriel sighs, “is enough for me. I’ll meet you where you are.”
Halfway to Heaven by Freydís Moon
Honestly, I can’t describe this short poem other than to say just read it. So powerful and moving.
Pieces by Emily Hoffman
Kieron works at a tissue bank and one night he receives a visitor named Wyatt who asks him to cut off his wings. An introspection on how Kieron has previously given up on believing in God and now having proof of angels and having one ask to be “cut up” by him will surely secure his place in hell if his job hadn’t already.
And the Mountains Melt Like Wax by Tyler Battaglia
A firefighter named Abel climbs a mountain with his dog Cain and finds an angel. Sounds like the start of a bad joke right? But it’s actually the start of an amazing short story. Abel is having panic attacks after a bad apartment fire he worked. While on a hike, he comes across a crater and finds a “terrifying and perfect” angel inside. My favorite part was Abel feeling how the angel was full of love and loved Abel just for being there at that moment.
Resta Con Me by Ian Haramaki
I loved Elia and how much he loved books and learning. Seeing how he liked Nicola but was immediately drawn to Dani. The mystery of the demon possessing people in town, how Nicola and Dani react to each other, the alleyway makeout, the final confrontation (and following sex scene)…all amazing.
“Of course the Lord would bless his angels handsomely.”
ARC provided in exchange for honest review
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Body horror
Moderate: Blood, Dysphoria, Gore, and Cannibalism
Minor: Animal death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Medical content, and Vomit
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