Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Milk Blood Heat by Dantiel W. Moniz

20 reviews

mackenziebrill's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Suicide, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual assault

bookscoffeehayley's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

CW: miscarriage, death of a child, suicide, suicidal thoughts, death of a parent, sexual assault, child abuse

After I finished ‘The Office of Historical Corrections’ (and loved it) I asked the internet what other short story recommendations they had. Milk Blood Heat by Dantiel W. Moniz was the most recommended collection so I immediately put a hold into my local library.

This is a fairly short collection, 11 stories coming in at just under 200 pages. But while this is shorter, it took me a bit to read. I wanted to stay with these stories. I couldn’t read them back to back. I had to pause after each story and sit with it.

These stories focus on an array of topics including familial relationships and traumas, identity, infidelity, miscarriage, healing, love. These stories end leaving you wanting more but in the best way possible.

I can’t recommend this short story collection enough. I tandem read this with the audiobook and also would recommend the audio version! I’m excited to see what Dantiel W. Moniz releases next!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Death of parent

sarahlovesbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book of short stories was beautifully written. Some lines just made me take a breath and read again to capture and really process them. The style kind of reminded me of Her Body and Other Parties, but the characters' struggles and flaws were more human than fantasy. Almost like Humans of my New York.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Death of parent

laurenmcnamara's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Blood

Moderate: Child abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Death of parent

keatynbergsten's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

I loved every story in this collection and they all really felt like they belonged in the same collection.  One of the best short story collections I’ve read in a long time.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent

kerrygetsliterary's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Sexual assault, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent

surefinewhatever_'s review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

A short story collection that explores the complicated nature of imperfect women and girls. The first story absolutely blew me away. The following were a bit hit or miss for me, but that’s exactly how my relationship to short story collections go; I find one stand-out story, then ebb & flow through the rest. Absolutely a worthwhile read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Suicide, Grief, and Death of parent

readalongwithnat's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I received a free ALC from Netgalley and HighBridge Audio in exchange for my honest review.

WOW. I have been sleeping on story collections and that was a mistake. This is my second one this month and I really enjoyed it. There are definitely dark topics in this book, but I would have gladly listened to a full length book of each of these stories. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, and Death of parent

mezzarella's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

3.0

Milk Blood Heat is exquisitely written, with a tight understanding of language creating an entrancing reading experience. I went into this book blind, as I had heard that this collection of stories were examples of beautiful prose but nothing of its contents. Before I can recommend this book to anyone, be aware that these stories are dark and at times horrific. Moniz's stories deserve to be sipped and ruminated on, rather than read quickly in one sitting.

Although each story is written expertly, it's likely that a couple stories will linger in your mind more than others. The story about a woman grieving after her miscarriage and another woman realizing her child is in a romantic relationship with her teacher in particular stand out a day or two after reading the book. Readers should be warned that while these stories do have a beginning, middle, and end, their resolutions are at times not as clear or complete as some may hope for. (The open ended nature of these stories are part of the reason that each story should be dissected and interpreted by the reader before starting the next one.)

For readers who are fans of horror elements or literary fiction, this book is certain to live up to expectations. For a debut short story collection especially, Milk Blood Heat is a triumph. Despite its taboo elements described in the book, it's clearly capable of hooking its readers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Infidelity, Cannibalism, and Religious bigotry

_lia_reads_'s review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Grief, and Death of parent