Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Bury Your Gays: An Anthology of Tragic Queer Horror by Sofia Ajram

2 reviews

shrikebait's review

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challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

4.0

Man...tragic is right.

This anthology is not for the faint of heart. It managed to make me squirm one moment and break my heart the next. There is plenty of grotesque, otherworldly horror, but the core of this collection is the real-world horror queer folks face.

In my opinion, all of the stories are well-written and fit the theme of this anthology. That being said, some just did not capture my attention as well as others. I would still recommend this as a solid anthology for fans of queer horror. 

Thank you to the authors and to BookSirens for the opportunity to read this book for free. I'm leaving this review of my own accord. 

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arsene_reads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • 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

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection. It was gritty, "in your face" and incredibly honest with its readers. This happens exactly to most LGBTQ+ members, especially with how critical the stories are that it almost seems like a non-fiction at this point, telling stories of real people and it's what sucked me in as I read through the contents. There were times when it was difficult for me to go on because of how seemingly "real" the stories are. I don't usually squirm but the medical horror that comes with this collection made me turn my device off and find a breather. Otherwise, I would be too anxious to read on. I love the emotions that made me feel while reading this book. It's incredibly alarming to the point that I could almost live the way these people lived. While my experience is not as horrific, I find myself wishing them all the best in the end. There's no way I could live the way they lived in fear of the backlash from the default community, much less from the same community I'm a part of. I fear so much while reading this book that I placed this as my favorite collection thus far for 2024.

This is a memorable read and I believe the author intended to scare readers and with that, they succeeded. To pick a favorite from the collection is a difficult job to consider, I don't know how people do so I'll skip what my favorite parts are and move on to the fact that this book revolves around the haunting lives of different people, all members of the LGBTQ+ community, a community that I personally am a part of. Hence, everything felt so real and intimidating, I know there's a lot of adjectives at this point on how much I felt tormented by the book. If at all I was given a chance to receive this book, I would cry. That's how much I feel for the book. I normally look at the book at a rational perspective but this hit deep within me that I just can't help but spill my guts and emotions into it.

This is written for people like me, I just know it. And I hope this book reaches more people and touch their lives the way that it did mine. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. 

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