Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda

9 reviews

mahtzahgay's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

1.75

Original rating was 2.75 stars, but I made a statement at the beginning that if the book didn't live up to the review on the blurb ("What Stoker did for the vampire at the end of the nineteenth century, Claire Kohda does for it in our era" – TLS) I would on principle remove a full star from the final rating. Ergo, this book is a solid 1.75 stars.

I really wanted to like Woman, Eating. I was hoping for a fresh take on the vampire genre, and one that would rid it of the embarrassing modern legacy of contemporary vampiric romance and YA trash that, peace and love, spat on both the allure and legacy of the vampire that Camilla and Dracula started.

And listen. It's certainly not the worst book I've read, and by far it is not the worst vampire book I've read. I did, however, grow very tired of the trite and overused playbook of modern-take-on-a-genre-or-literary-classic that makes an attempt at mild social commentary, but ultimately leaves much to be desired within the realm of anything harsher than a "maybe colonialism bad 🧐 Are men who are misogynys and sex pests the REAL monsters 🤯🤯🤯". Like, girl, put some cunt into your undertones & overtones, and be just a touch bolder. Especially if you're going to plaster your book with reviews that praise your 'profoundness' and 'blistering' 'thought-provoking' work. The only 'blistering' part of this entire experience was from my eyes rolling out of their sockets from the over-used and uninspired mommy-daughter issues trope.

It's better than Twilight. That's not a hard bar to pass, though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, and Rape

karenschlesser's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder

Moderate: Infidelity, Self harm, and Blood

Minor: Child death

peggy_racham's review against another edition

4.75

"I'm not really sure what I am anymore, whether I'm a monster or whether I'm just a woman, or both."

Ah good vampire books. The parallel the Mc draws between being non white and being a vampire are chiefs kiss. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

nicolesbookreviews's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Blood, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

itsdanibee's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Blood

Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual content, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, Murder, and Pregnancy

hanz's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Child death

bluedilly's review against another edition

dark 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Dementia, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Eating disorder, Gore, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, and Terminal illness

Minor: Child death, Grief, Car accident, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

lovesit1892's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.0

I give this two stars for the unique perspective and modern angle that this author uses to approach the vampire trope, but it did not do much for me. I love vampires and I was excited to read a more contemporary vampire storyline with Asian/POC characters, but nothing interesting seems to happen throughout this entire book. The ending is expected and even the character's expected upheaval is uneventful when it happens. The writing lacks any description that would make it lush and detailed, it's just blunt, short sentences, "I did this. This happened."   

The uniqueness of the storyline itself had promise, but the writing makes the characters and their happenings flat and uninteresting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Dementia

Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual assault, Dementia, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

standerson's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Blood

Minor: Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Alcohol