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dagsywagsy43's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, and Gore
Moderate: Misogyny and Racism
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
aplpaca's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, Gore, Sexism, Transphobia, Death, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Pregnancy and Abortion
Minor: Sexual assault, Homophobia, Racism, and Sexual harassment
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.
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 PTSDamandalachelle'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
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
bee_likes_books's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
I wanted to love this book, and I was so into it for the first 2/3rds that I felt outright betrayed when the THIRTY YEAR OLD WORLD-WISE VETERAN hooks up with the TEENAGER THAT CAN’T READ. The power dynamic was gross! And, yes, the teenager CAN turn into a terrible forest monster… in that specific forest. Which Leslie takes him away from. It ends with the two having soda floats while Stevie looks around in wonder at normal city things. Leslie (after flirting with someone else in front of Stevie) is like, “there’s a bookstore you might like!” And when Stevie is both slightly saddened by the open flirtation and reminds the main character that he can’t read (with can’t coming out like “cain’t” in a ‘cute childish way’) the MC is just like eh I’ll teach you how. It read like it was supposed to be romantic and aspirational but candidly it felt really gross to me. . The author didn’t shy away from giving the main character an aversion to the racism or eugenics of the time, so it wasn’t an attempt to be true to the time period either.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Gore, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, and Transphobia
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Stalking, Racism, War, Rape, Pregnancy, and Confinement
Minor: Abortion
Is a scene where Leslie has sex with
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