Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor

8 reviews

kimothay's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• 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? Yes

4.0

This is my first Brandon Taylor read! Short story collections are usually not my favorite because I very much need detailed, direct character development to thoroughly get invested in a story. However, I enjoyed many of the stories in this collection and I’m interested to read more of Taylor’s work. This is definitely a dark read with lots of content/trigger warnings; however, since the main theme of the book is how humans seek connection but resort to violence, it was to be expected. I would have liked to see more character development or addressing of core problems, but overall, I enjoyed the collection. The standout for me was Anne of Cleves. 

Potluck: 4/5

Little Beast: 4/5

Flesh: 3.5/5

As Though That Were Love: 3.5/5

Proctoring: 4/5

Filthy Animals: 3/5

Mass: 2.5/5 

Anne of Cleves: 4.5/5 

Apartment: 3/5 

What Made Them Made You: 4/5

Meat: 3/5 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Eating disorder, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Grief, and Outing

xosirenox's review against another edition

reflective fast-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Pedophilia

loganmedrano's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Homophobia, and Pedophilia

marjoleinvanderspoel's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Brandon Taylor continues to prove his immense skill with this collection of short stories unlike any other such collection I've read. With this collection Taylor proves his breadth as a story teller by branching into many different kinds of lives, whilst maintaining an atmosphere that keeps the collection coherent. The incorporation of an overarching or recurring story about Lionel, Charles and Sophie was cleverly done, and the story itself was wonderfully complex and compelling, reminiscent of Real Life in it's dealing with mental health and academia, something that I appreciated enormously in his debut. In addition I greatly enjoyed "as if that were love" and perhaps my favourite story, "anne of cleves". I only wish we would have gotten a story from Sophie's perspective as I found her to be a much more interesting character than Charles. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Misogyny, Violence, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Homophobia, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual content, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, and Domestic abuse

amye's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Eating disorder, Homophobia, Racism, and Abandonment

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Drug use, and Pedophilia

annuich's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Murder

deedireads's review

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.

TL;DR REVIEW:

Filthy Animals is, as we expect from Brandon Taylor, a masterful collection of stories; I especially loved the linked ones. This book more than lives up to the hype.

For you if: You like queer short stories and excellent character-driven writing.

FULL REVIEW:

First, thank you to Riverhead for granting me a review copy of this collection on NetGalley! Filthy Animals is one of the most anticipated books of the year, and it absolutely lives up to the hype.

The collection opens with a story about a man named Lionel, who has hit a particularly difficult point in his life, and who meets two dancers in an open relationship at a friend’s potluck dinner. Every alternating story in the collection returns to these three characters, which, strung together, could have even become a novella. I really liked this format, the promise that we will come back and learn more about them, return to the near-tangible tension between them, see what happens next. But all the other stories in the collection are incredible, too, as one would expect from Brandon Taylor.

I feel, now, that I could recognize Taylor’s writing anywhere, just by the level of detail he includes on every page. His writing zooms in on practically everything, which draws meaning and poignancy out of the otherwise mundane. Reading his stories, I feel like I could be an ant inside them, viewing every surface, every facial expression, every moment from close up. And then he zooms out when it comes to dialogue, letting every word ring and echo in hollow space. The result is both quiet and loud.

This is one of those books where I think the back-cover blurb is especially on the nose: “Psychologically taut and quietly devastating,” and “a tender portrait of the fierce longing for intimacy, the lingering presence of pain, and the desire for love in a world that seems, more often than not, to withhold it.” I really can’t sum it up any better than that.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Eating disorder, Homophobia, and Rape

Minor: Pedophilia, Racism, and Terminal illness

rachel_athens's review

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Brandon Taylor's book of short stories, Filthy Animals, is a bright shining explosion of beautiful writing. Six of the eleven stories are linked and dipping back and forth into Lionel's relationship with two dancers, Sophie and Charles, is hypnotic. These stories about human relationships range from those between lovers, friends, and family. How is it that Taylor can write so that we can see the interior crevices of these character's souls? Brilliantly done.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide attempt

Minor: Pedophilia