Reviews tagging 'Blood'
Love After the End: Two-Spirit Utopias & Dystopias by Joshua Whitehead
9 reviews
ka_cam's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
A quality collection of short stories- many are pretty dystopian and post/apocalyptic, so be aware of that going in. I especially enjoyed the stories that explored themes of human consciousness and AI (and indigeneity and/or queerness can be related/within that) and explorations of what kinship and belonging could mean in different futures. Some were more interesting and creative to me that others but all in all a good read and I’d like to follow the contributors for more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, and Death
Moderate: Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Violence, Grief, and Homophobia
maeverose's review against another edition
hopeful
3.5
This is a very beautiful and needed collection of stories by queer indigenous authors. As is expected with short story collections, they were hit or miss for me. I’m including my ratings and content warnings for each story in this review so if you don’t want to see the content warnings feel free to skip it.
A note on my ratings: I rate books/stories on my personal enjoyment level, not on any objective writing or storytelling factors. (1= hated it, 2= not for me, 3= just fine, 4= really liked it, 5= loved it)
A note on my ratings: I rate books/stories on my personal enjoyment level, not on any objective writing or storytelling factors. (1= hated it, 2= not for me, 3= just fine, 4= really liked it, 5= loved it)
- Abacus by Nathan Adler (3⭐️)
Cw: sexual content (very minor)
- History of The New World by Adam Garnet Jones (4⭐️)
Cw: sexual content, slavery, murder, racism, xenophobia, violence, injury, colonization, abandonment, pregnancy
- The Ark of the Turtle’s Back by Jaye Simpson (3.5⭐️)
Cw: transphobia, sexual content, slavery, infertility (sort of), grief, medical content, colonization, pregnancy/baby talk
- How To Survive The Apocalypse For Native Girls by Kai Minosh Pyle (2⭐️)
There’s nothing wrong with this story it’s just not for me, largely because of the narrator’s voice. They sounded very young and naive for 16 and it irked me.
Cw: transphobia, f slur, child abuse, fire, murder, minor mention of war
- Andwànikàdjigan by Gabriel Castilloux Calderon (5⭐️)
This story made me feel so much and so strongly in such a short amount of pages. wow
Cw: murder, death of loved ones, grief, fire, descriptions of scars similar to self harm scars (but not self harm), descriptions of cutting for non self harm reasons, gun violence, colonization, blood, confinement, death of a parent
- Story for a Bottle by Darcy Little Badger (2.5⭐️)
Cw: kidnapping, confinement, animal harm, child abuse
- Seed Children by Mari Kurisato (2⭐️)
Cw: blood, death, cannibalism, injury, gun violence, religious bigotry, violence, murder, vomit
- Nameless by Nazbah Tom (3.5⭐️)
Cw: war, murder, alcohol, addiction, vomit
- Eloise by David A. Robertson (4⭐️)
I don’t know how I feel about this one. I really liked the writing style and the concepts
Spoiler
but I’m confused why Emma wanted to forget Cassie. Unless I missed it they never explained that and it felt like something that should’ve been explained.Cw: grief, depression, cancer
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Grief, Murder, Violence, Death, Abandonment, Transphobia, and Child abuse
Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Blood, Sexual content, Colonisation, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Confinement, and Vomit
Minor: Xenophobia, Infertility, Pregnancy, Drug use, War, Slavery, Racism, Addiction, and Cannibalism
A heavy theme of climate crisis in a lot of the storieslynxpardinus's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Confinement, Blood, and Colonisation
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Medical content, Genocide, Alcoholism, Kidnapping, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Police brutality
Minor: Cancer and Sexual content
nicole_koenigsknecht's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism and Blood
krys_kilz's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
A truly incredible collection! My favorite stories were: "History of the New World" by Adam Garnet Jones, "Andwànikàdjigan" by Gabriel Castilloux Calderon, "Story for a Bottle" by Darcie Little Badger, "Nameless" by Nazbah Tom, and "Eloise" by David A. Robertson.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, and Medical content
Minor: War
caseythereader's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
- LOVE AFTER THE END is a short collection of stories that really pack a punch into under 200 pages.
- Some stories are set in futures that are terrifyingly easy to envision from our current moment, and some feel beyond any possibility; it's a great mix of visions.
- A theme running through these stories is the fact that Indigenous people have survived the apocalypse before, so they can do so again, in whatever form that takes. This theme is present in many Indigenous-authored books, but the stories here center queer people in a way many other books don't, and how their specific histories and circumstances shape their reactions and actions in each of these futures.
- Some stories are set in futures that are terrifyingly easy to envision from our current moment, and some feel beyond any possibility; it's a great mix of visions.
- A theme running through these stories is the fact that Indigenous people have survived the apocalypse before, so they can do so again, in whatever form that takes. This theme is present in many Indigenous-authored books, but the stories here center queer people in a way many other books don't, and how their specific histories and circumstances shape their reactions and actions in each of these futures.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Cancer, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Violence, and Xenophobia
questingnotcoasting's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Violence, Alcoholism, and Blood
amandaquotidianbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
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
3.5
Abacus by Nathan Adler was my favorite story of the bunch and had the most Indigenous joy. Overall a strong collection of stories that complimented each other. I liked the large inclusion of indigenous languages.
Content Warnings
Minor: Blood, Forced institutionalization, Racism, and Death
dytiscusfriend's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Every single story was compelling, beautifully written, and important. That in and of itself is very rare for an anthology. But the flow of the stories was also magnificent. Between exceptional editing and meaningful storytelling, Love After the End is easily favorite speculative fiction anthology I've read. I also feel that this collection offers a kind of imagination that is in direly short supply right now. Reflections on joy in devastation, love in ruin, and healing before it's too late. Ready this book because you want to be part of a future where you thrive.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Violence
Moderate: Cannibalism
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