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maggiegould's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
4.5
so i just. don't read horror all that often. not usually my cup of tea. i love horror elements within texts and media, but horror itself i have never really been overly drawn to. red x, though, i had to read for a class (queer literature in Canada), and boy, am i glad i did. scary, insightful, heartbreaking, moving, anger-inducing, and funny, i don't think i have ever enjoyed reading a book for a class as much as i did this one. it is not an easy read: it is graphic, unsettling, and weird. you certainly could not read it if you were homophobic. but the payoff, especially when you consider the real-life events that inspired this book, is more than worth it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Sexual harassment
kyletells's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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 is the perfect book of hauntings. It's devastating and perfectly devastating. Centered around queer communities and the AIDS crisis in Toronto across multiple timelines, Demchuk somehow weaves every type of haunting in one novel. Time slips by, and it feels real (new relationships; changing city landscapes; deaths—everything moves by with so little comment but with major impact); meanwhile, people slip into the maws of a monster. Every man who goes missing in this book is deeply characterized in the smallest amount of space. That's not a spoiler—you're informed in chapter 1 that a man goes missing. And while the monster is horrifying, what's really scary is forgetting these incredibly depicted people you knew so well because there's another very deep character, another year, and another man missing within a few chapters. This book has a large cast but with very identifiable, rich characters. The language is perfect, the pacing amazing, the dialogue and commentary sometimes so biting I cackled, and while it's a hard-to-stomach read at times, it's a novel I'll likely re-read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Sexual harassment
The graphic horror is shown mostly after the event or described at a time after it occurs, though it is still graphic. Example: police violence is not depicted in the scene but by the police cleanup, which still is quite graphic through suggestion.