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Reviews tagging 'Body horror'
Fourteen Days: A Collaborative Novel by Douglas Preston, Margaret Atwood, The Authors Guild
3 reviews
apersonfromflorida's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Body horror, Animal cruelty, and Chronic illness
Minor: Drug abuse and Death of parent
annaavian's review
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Just like many other short story collections I have come across, this book features a mix of stronger and weaker stories. Some captivated my attention, while others faded from memory quickly.
The stories here are related through the fact that they are spoken aloud to a group. While some authors adapted well to this format, others overwhelmed with excessive details or overly strange elements that felt disconnected from real-life speech. I also found the chitchat and setup between stories somewhat boring and tiresome. The constant need for the narrator to introduce each new day, scene, and character before diving into the next tale seemed like unnecessary padding.
Overall, this experimental approach fell short for me. The abundance of stories, characters, and narrative voices resulted in a disjointed and inconsistent reading experience. The ending left much to be desired as well.
The stories here are related through the fact that they are spoken aloud to a group. While some authors adapted well to this format, others overwhelmed with excessive details or overly strange elements that felt disconnected from real-life speech. I also found the chitchat and setup between stories somewhat boring and tiresome. The constant need for the narrator to introduce each new day, scene, and character before diving into the next tale seemed like unnecessary padding.
Overall, this experimental approach fell short for me. The abundance of stories, characters, and narrative voices resulted in a disjointed and inconsistent reading experience. The ending left much to be desired as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, and Chronic illness
Minor: Drug abuse and Death of parent
lvleggett's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
4.25
The collaborative novel was a new format for me. I was worried that I would get distracted by the different voices & styles but the authors -- and editors! -- created something special. The novel centers on a group of tenants in NYC during the earliest days of the pandemic. They meet on the rooftop of their apartment block every night for two weeks to tell stories to each other. It starts slowly, hesitantly but soon the stories pile on top of one another, capturing the breadth of human experience. The terror & dread of those early days in New York is told vividly as a backdrop to the tenants' stories. It is a love letter to storytellers and a reminder that our humanity lives in community during dark moments.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Sexual violence, Death, Drug use, Grief, Death of parent, Dementia, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Chronic illness, Animal cruelty, Body horror, and Suicide
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