Reviews for Blood Is Another Word for Hunger, by Rivers Solomon

Natalie DC's review
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dark hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters centre-stage? Yes

3.5

3.5/5 stars. A breathtakingly-creative premise executed through beautiful, haunting prose. I would've preferred if this idea were fleshed out into an even longer project. As it stands, the pacing is pretty erratic, Sully's character motivations are unexplored and the consequences/emotional baggage of Sully's actions are virtually nonexistent. 

BethMitcham's review
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3.0

Dark and emotionally story of a slave girl creating her own community. She destroys her enslavers and births new people to form a community with, and dreams of the world.

It's about life and desires and dreams and asserting humanity, with no mercy for the wicked. It is a great example of a short story in that it works like an abstract painting for me -- the pieces (plot) are strong but almost irrelevant except in how they call out emotions, and it doesn't make sense yet is completely whole.

Havelock's review
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dark fast-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters centre-stage? No

2.5

Expand filter menu Collapse filter menu Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Death

Montgomery Pierce's review
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dark tense medium-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters centre-stage? Yes

4.5

Rivers Solomon has a way with the short story that I am simultaneously envious of and ravenous for. This story doesn't disappoint; revenge, gore, grappling with cycles of life and death, the concept of rebirth, found family, all hanging somewhere between horror and reality in a place where a girl like Sully is real and the traumatic things that happen to her are equally that and otherworldly. 

If Rivers Solomon ever chose to expand on this story, its world, its characters, you would not find me disappointed. 


Expand filter menu Collapse filter menu Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Violence, Suicide, and Gore

Minor: Slavery

Blood, Body Horror, Gore, Violence: Scenes that include the murder of slave owners, descriptions of blood, viscera, etc. Detailed depiction of traumatic childbirth. Suicide, Gore:
Spoiler Scene towards the end of the short story where Sully cuts out her own uterus, leading to her death and subsequent rebirth.
Slavery: Sully is a former slave; there are no scenes of her as a slave, nor depictions of slavery and the violence that comes with it.

jessticulates's review
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2.0

I didn’t particularly enjoy this story – for no other reason than it was just a little too weird for me. I'd be interested in trying more work from Solomon in future, but for whatever reason this story and I didn't quite gel.

littlepiscesreading's review
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5.0

It's a terrible, beautiful work. So much pain. But not without hope.

broken spine's review
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4.0

Blood Is Another Word for Hunger was originally published in July 2019 as a Tor.com Original and it was a Hugo Award Short Story Finalist, I found this story to be quite intriguing and enjoyed the premise.

This is a short story about Sully a 15 year old slave girl who "frees" herself by murdering her mistress and 4 others after learning that her master has died. But what ensues after that is a tale of death and rebirth, murder, necromancy, freedom, love and hate.

In reading this short story it gave me [b:Beloved|6149|Beloved|Toni Morrison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347984578l/6149._SY75_.jpg|736076] and [b:The Color Purple|52892857|The Color Purple|Alice Walker|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1572261616l/52892857._SX50_SY75_.jpg|3300573] vibes.

KikiandArrow'sFishShelf's review
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4.0

This was good and hard hitting.

zembla's review
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challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters centre-stage? Yes

5.0

sylviehelen's review
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3.0

Short, bloody and angry.

I was not shocked to see that Rivers Solomon's writing is stunning in this too. I really need to read An Unkindness of Ghosts.

I'd say this was more of a concept than a story but it was one I found compelling.
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