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sal_the_cat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Medical content, and Alcohol
twinkielinkie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Vomit, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Body horror, Transphobia, and Blood
Minor: Deadnaming and Eating disorder
spacememories's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, and Pandemic/Epidemic
tifftastic87's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Two years ago a religious eco-terrorist group released a bioweapon called The Flood and killed 9 billion people. They founded New Nazareth and infected Benji with a variant of the virus to create the Saraph. This variant will mutate him and allow him to lead the church's militia and flood abominations to bring everyone to heaven.
I feel like this needed a bit more time curing before it was released to the world. Benji oscillated between guilt, which didn't use the religious trauma enough to make it feel real, and lusting over the Nick. Nick, the leader of the rebellion group that saves Benji, was very 2D. He was much more of a plot element than a character. I needed more between them than Nicke giving orders and Benji being like "damn he's cute."
The body horror was there, and probably at a good level for YA but somethings were not explained very well and I really couldn't tell what was happening. The story was in firsf person, so perhaps it was intentional, but it was not clear it was intentional.
I have a lot more opinions on the world building and the lack of justification for the relationship between Benji and Nick (other than it's YA and they have to). But I'll leave it at there were a lot of inconsistencies.
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Eating disorder, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
abies's review against another edition
3.5
the only reson i dont rate it a little higher is that something was missing for me personally character or story-wise. absolutely would recommend to teens / young adults who enjoy body horror and exploration of religious trauma. and those that just think it would be cool to be a beast as well.
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Transphobia, and Dysphoria
Minor: Eating disorder
ezwolf's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Alcohol and Classism
milliyum's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
It was fun and I'm glad i tried it, i would definitely reccomend it.
Now my issues aren't major, more that it felt lacking in some areas (of course maybe the author had a word limit or I' too dyslexic to realise i skipped parts of the plot).
I felt like the Flood should of been explained more. If their religion doesn't exist then how was it made? How are the Graces controlled by them in the first place?
I wish there was more character arcs and closeness,
It even at times felt like i was reading a fanfic of the book.
But either way i loved it, the characters were all enjoyable (even the evil ones) and i loved every scene with Benji's
Also do yourself a favor and look at the sick fanart of Benji once you finish the book!
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, and Dysphoria
Minor: Child death, Deadnaming, and Panic attacks/disorders
peroxide_princes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Body shaming, Chronic illness, and Cursing
beanaroni's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Eating disorder
this is a book that heeds a general body horror warning for its entire length, but please be cautious if you're particular about teeth (as I am).hemlockbabe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I adored this book. I picked it up entirely on a whim during pride month on the wall of recommended reading at a small bookstore. I read (more like skimmed) the blurb on why the shop employee recommended it so highly. I love reading religious trauma inspired books, so I pretty much was sold immediately.
I devoured this book during the span of one six hour shift at my workplace. I've always been a fast reader- it's my attention span that ruins my ability to read books. This book sucked me in hard enough that occasionally I had to be prompted multiple times by customers to buy their stuff.
I don't know if I would have had a different experience with it if I had known of the trigger warnings, especially the violence, purposeful misgendering, and body horror. I've always loved zombie books, and I read those curled up in chairs in the library of my high school, so I didn't think much of the location I would be reading this book.
Public crying, for me, is the highest form of torture, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the pages of this book. The pacing, the content, the plight of the main character- all of it kept me hooked until the very end. I'm just glad I didn't snap at a kid for interrupting my reading time with a craving for Pokémon cards.
My review doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of public opinion- I have a history of really liking books and movies that had piss poor reviews and ratings- but I loved this book so much. As I've gotten older and more mentally ill, I don't get sucked into the pages of a book like a used to as a kid. I miss the ability to be absorbed in a story until it's done, and this book brought that back for me.
This book is definitely not for everyone, and all readers should be mindful of their triggers to disturbing content. But I definitely enjoyed myself, hence the five star rating.
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Outing, Cultural appropriation, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Zombie apocalypse, and a religious cult worshipping it as the rapture. Or God's work to cleanse this Earth and remake it anew.