Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Our Hideous Progeny by C.E. McGill

24 reviews

hiddenfallacies's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative reflective slow-paced

• 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? Yes

4.5

Our Hideous Progeny is a delight of a novel, bathed in the essence of Victorian-era science and all the opportunities it held - if you were the right person. It follows Mary Frankenstein, great-niece of that Frankenstein, as she struggles to realize her place and purpose in the world. Her anger and sorrowful past leads her to an idea - one that most would find absurd: bringing a dinosaur to life.

From its real-world details (that had me pausing in my reading to look up the historical context) to its richly expressed environments, I found myself lost in this story quite easily. The narrative often made me feel as if I was experiencing the world alongside Mary, sharing her sorrows and triumphs and everything in-between. Perhaps that was one of my favorite things about this novel - all of the characters felt real. 

The only thing preventing this from being a five-star read is that I felt the story ended right as it was truly beginning for Mary! I would love to see the follow-up the author joked about in their note at the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Vomit, and Colonisation

jodean's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Drug use, Racism, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Colonisation

thealmightykatt's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Gun violence, and Grief

Minor: Death of parent

inkwellimps's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• 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

This book is the book that convinced me to give modern fiction a try again. I thoroughly enjoyed this elaboration on Frankenstein--I was extremely invested in the characters Mary and Maisie, as well as the Victorian worldbuilding. I could feel Mary's passion for science as if it was my own.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death and Gun violence

Minor: Religious bigotry

The child death is in two characters' backstory and not explicitly shown.

cosypuck's review against another edition

emotional hopeful tense

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Child death and Death of parent

thecaffeinatedlibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense

5.0

A careful, quiet, deliberate book that builds like a crescendo. 

I knew I'd love this book, knew it from the moment I found out that it was not only an unofficial caption is Mary Shelly's Frankenstein but about dinosaurs too. I was not wrong, I loved this book.

Mary's anger, her pride and her urge to do more—be more—make her an extremely compelling protagonist. There is much to love about this book, but Mary is easily the most extraordinary. I hated every single man in this book (except for Mr. Jamsetjee), there was a veritable amount of anger induced eye twitching going on.
I just... I adored this book and everything it says, not just about women in science, but women in the 19th century. The science itself, and the elements of paleontology, were so well done and so thoroughly researched. 

I'm of the opinion that having read Frankenstein prior to picking this up will benefit you greatly. My love for Frankenstein certainly elevated my love for this book, and I think that is the best way to enjoy this.

If you're a fan of Frankenstein and dinosaurs, this one is for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Blood, and Medical content

ofbooksandechos's review against another edition

dark inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Medical content

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Misogyny, and Classism

Minor: Gun violence, Racial slurs, and Racism

eleanora's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Addiction, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

quinnpjd930's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment

lira_the_recluse's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

Narration is exquisite. The fiction seems to be expertly weaved with the real world history. The science and process was grotesque and captivating. Mary Elizabeth Frankenstein is a force to be reckoned with, and I wish her all the best adventures.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child death and Racism

Minor: Death of parent