Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

A Planet for Rent by Yoss

2 reviews

mar's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-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? It's complicated

i'm not entirely sure how i feel abt this book. 
on one hand this is an outstanding case of sci-fi as social critique. the biting commentary on the tourism industry, colonialism and capitalism - the very clear allegory to the treatment of Cuba and other third-world countries by the West - is really strong, honest and unflinching. still, its brutality and obsceneness make for a difficult and disturbing read; a lot of it is clearly a purposeful choice, yes, but there were still times when it felt gratuitous, and others when i found it hard to tell just how much of the unpleasant shitty parts was by design and how much might've been the author's prejudices bleeding through.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Minor: Animal death, Homophobia, Suicide, and Trafficking

innerweststreetlibrarian's review against another edition

adventurous challenging medium-paced

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

3.0

This is a challenging collection of short stories. Some are quite horrific. 
I found the parallels between this post-alien contact earth and Cuba quite fascinating, and that is what drove me to finish. 
The things I didn’t like, were the sloppy editing (so many typos), the use of the term “social worker” to describe sex workers, and the really strong sexist tone throughout the book that really dates it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and War