Reviews tagging 'War'

The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo

13 reviews

olivecatlady's review

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, War, Rape, Transphobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Content warning spoiler:

graphic monster sex out of nowhere at the end

city_girl_writer's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Not what I expected but in a good way! Preferred the historical horror aspects than the trans romance but still good nonetheless.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Religious bigotry, and Transphobia

Moderate: War, Rape, Sexual content, and Pregnancy

Minor: Confinement, Abortion, and Sexual assault

ghostingarden's review

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Religious bigotry, and Gore

Moderate: Pregnancy, Homophobia, and Rape

Minor: Violence, Sexual assault, War, and Sexual content

thecriticalreader's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

The Run-Down: The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo is an exquisitely imagined historical horror romance that delivers a gritty, feral catharsis. 

 

Review: 

Lee Mandelo has done the unimaginable with The Woods All Black. In just 150 pages, he has created an immersive, historically detailed trans romance horror story. The novella follows Leslie, a nurse from the Frontier Nursing Service assigned to provide vaccination and other health services to an isolated religious Appalachian town called Spar’s Creek. Leslie puts up with the town’s distrustful attitude toward him in order to help a young resident, Stevie, whom he recognizes as a gender- nonconforming kindred spirit. As the residents grow increasingly hostile toward Leslie and Stevie for failing to act like proper God-fearing women, Leslie finds himself embroiled in a conflict that involves forces beyond his comprehension.

 

It's rare to find a piece of queer historical fiction that does not simply transplant modern ideas about gender and queerness into a historical setting. While there is nothing inherently wrong about this approach from a storytelling perspective, it does promote a rather limited and inaccurate understanding of the past. By contrast, The Woods All Black makes a genuine attempt to reimagine queerness and gender nonconformity as its characters might have understood it. For example, the book’s protagonist identifies as a female “invert,” a sexual identity popularized in the late 1920s that in today’s understanding of gender and sexuality might be most akin to a he/him lesbian or transmasc nonbinary identity. Furthermore, Mandelo’s extensive historical research—combined with his sharp imagination— lends this book a remarkable sense of historical realism. At the same time, however, he manages to craft a story that is both affirming and relevant to the present, and modern queer readers will see parts of themselves represented in these characters. 

 

Despite the book’s short length, The Woods All Black never seems rushed or underdeveloped. On the contrary, its characters come alive on the page with remarkable depth. The steady pacing contributes to the ever-increasing narrative tension, which is released in a brutal, cathartic climax. Mandelo’s writing rejoices in a gritty, animalistic version of trans masculinity—a tender ferocity borne of a lifetime of societal oppression and constraint. The graphic nature of this book won’t be for everyone, but for those who need this narrative, it will be a blessing they didn’t know they needed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Homophobia, Misogyny, Xenophobia, and Medical content

Moderate: Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Abortion, Confinement, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Rape, War, and Racism

Additional Content Warnings: Misgendering, war-related PTSD

amandalachelle's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Bullying, Abortion, Blood, Cannibalism, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, Religious bigotry, War, Violence, Transphobia, and Rape

Minor: Excrement and Confinement

barometz's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Misogyny, Violence, Animal death, Death, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Cannibalism, Abortion, War, Cursing, Deadnaming, Fire/Fire injury, and Dysphoria

Minor: Lesbophobia

moonyreadsbystarlight's review

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.75

The main character, Leslie, is an invert traveling through Kentucky in the 1920s on duty as a nurse, to give vaccines and provide care around childbirth. This begins as more of a historical novel. Leslie is assigned to provide care and vaccines in a small town Appalachian. He receives unprecedented religious pushback in the town, which complicates his job and potentially his livelihood. But there are people he is determined to help before he leaves. 

The horror element slowly builds as the woods are clearly more than they seem. So much of the story culminates towards the end, making this a bit of a slower burn, but trust that it ends with a bang. 

The blurb promises "historical horror, trans romance, and bloodsoaked revenge" and most certainly delivers on all in more ways than I was anticipating (it gets gruesome and spicy, but also I can see where Madelo's writing style was impacted by the time in which he is writing.).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Homophobia, Violence, War, Gore, Abortion, Animal death, and Blood

Moderate: Ableism, Rape, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury

aromarrie's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

honest to god, this novella did what it wanted to do and did it fantastically. the author is seriously talented in writing a really good & creepy atmosphere—i already knew that,—so i was genuinely ecstatic to relive that feeling through their eyes.

bonus points for crossing into monsterfucking territory; truly, you don’t get to see this enough in traditional publishing. but this is also just a really cathartic read….and leslie and stevie were absolutely it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Murder, Violence, Sexual content, and Transphobia

Moderate: Gore, War, Pregnancy, and Death

Minor: Sexual violence

afternoon_sunshowers's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? No

4.5

The tension makes this book a little uncomfortable to read, and it’s done so effectively well. 

This is a time period and region I don’t know much about, let alone in combination, and Mandelo brought it to life incredibly well. 

There’s a monster, but who is the real monster in this story? 

It packs a punch in a novella’s worth of pages, and is incredibly satisfying. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Transphobia

Minor: War and Rape

cuppasunshine's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, and Death

Moderate: Violence, War, and Sexual content

Minor: Abortion, Sexual assault, and Rape