victaphone's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Physical abuse, Violence, Death, Torture, Self harm, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Bullying
Minor: Racism, Ableism, Addiction, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and War
luckygriffin's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Bullying, Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Genocide, Racism, Addiction, Death, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Torture, Toxic relationship, War, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Do not read unless you can handle extreme psychological horror. The plot is driven by the torture of the main characters, and is disturbing to read.darththought's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Full Disclosure I did not finish Little Maggie Moneyeyes the last story of this collection. I couldn't because that was the point where the blatant misogyny got the best of me. I could not finish
That being said, I will give Harlan Ellison one thing. He can write for the most part I enjoyed the first three stories of the collection even if they left me with a gaping hole of darkness in my chest. Where it started to all go wrong was around World of the Myth this was where the full misogyny was on display. Victim blaming, and the like. I can forgive some things I forgave a lot for this book because I wanted to enjoy it. And hell I enjoyed the titular story and the two stories after it Big Sam was My Friend was a heart wrenching but all too familiar tale of how money can drive us to forget our morals.
Eyes of Dust was.... OK a little too bleak but i got the point he was going for, that is one thing i can say about the author I get why he writes what he writes, however i can not in good faith say that I enjoyed the stories after that it just went down hill and i could not finish the last one
I would not recommend the full book, I would recommend the titular story and if that was all I was reviewing this review would have been glowing, but it is not because I wanted to read all of them
I will also say if Mr. Ellison was still alive I'd probably have a drink with him, because outside of his stories in the little in betweens I could see a genuine if very cynical human.
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Violence