A review by iellv
The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo

Did not finish book. Stopped at 7%.

Mama this is embarrassing. I am the target audience for this type of book (trans characters? monsterfucking? horror? historical setting?? hello??) but the writing style is grating. I’m gonna be honest… it’s kinda bad. Almost every sentence is structured strangely if not just passive. Mandelo overuses personification, which is especially noticeable because he is already a bit too descriptive—and that’s coming from someone who enjoys purple prose. I also caught at least 5 instances of questionable word choice before dropping this. 10 pages is a new low for me but I cannot be blamed for this. Each sentence felt circular bc of the poor rhythm too, if that makes sense. So many issues with clarity… and for what? For the chance to misuse big words? And despite all of these notes, the writing is still somehow dry? Fascinating.

I read abt the crazy age gap though. Bullet dodged ig! Jesus. Sorry to everyone who’s eating this up though I’m honestly kinda jealous. I’d fully intended to power through the writing but I am god’s weakest soldier.