Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy A. Snyder

5 reviews

bibliomich's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Umm, I'm not even sure where to begin with this review.

That was a trip, and one that I'm not sure I ever need to go on again. The world that Lucy A. Snyder created in Sister, Maiden, Monster was one that I was able to get swept up in immediately. The exposition moves quickly, as the first of three protagonists (and the reader) are thrust into a new, post-COVID pandemic, the impact of which seems dire. Over the course of the book, we follow three different narrators, whose stories ultimately overlap in meaningful ways, as they navigate illness, exposure, and survival in a rapidly changing world.

I was invested in all of their stories, and I found the story moved pretty quickly, but ultimately the ending fell flat for me. It felt like a lot of buildup with a somewhat anticlimactic conclusion. I think as the book became more and more unhinged, I just expected the ending to live up to that level of build up. I'm interested in reading the short story on which this book was based, and I would definitely read Snyder's work again. Just probably not this one...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Animal cruelty, Blood, Pandemic/Epidemic, Cannibalism, Body horror, Animal death, and Violence

Moderate: Chronic illness, Dysphoria, and Trafficking

kelisabeth's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Police brutality, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, War, Alcohol, Cancer, Rape, Infertility, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Animal death, Cannibalism, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Pandemic/Epidemic, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Death, Medical content, Trafficking, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Miscarriage, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Violence

sarah984's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

I really liked about the first third of this book - Erin's story has some interpersonal drama, compelling pandemic fiction, and an interesting point of view character. Unfortunately once the POV switches the book just fell apart for me. I get that Savannah is a bad person but she uses such cringy language and a lot of the narrative choices felt a little iffy to me (using the full first and last name of a real child victim of a sex crime, the bizarre scene where a ghost castigates her for killing the only Black woman in the book). While Mareva's story at least felt like it had a point, the King in Yellow stuff felt very silly, the thee/thou dialogue was terrible, and I felt like it just didn't match up to the expectations that Erin's chapters had set for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Cancer, Cannibalism, Sexual content, Body horror, Gore, Pregnancy, Medical content, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Violence, Vomit, Colonisation, Death, Self harm, Blood, Confinement, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Chronic illness, and Racism

Minor: Abortion, Ableism, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Police brutality, Trafficking, Genocide, Child death, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Infidelity, and Excrement

laurenbookwitchbitch's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

2.0

I don’t know what I was expecting out of this book but it was…not this. I thought “Sister Maiden Monster,” would be a terrifying cosmic horror with great queer rep. This was a body/medical horror nightmare with barely any good characters or plot. Even the medical horror part wasn’t thought out that well. “What if it was live covid…but worse?” That was the big revelation? Covid mixed with mad cow disease? I kept reading because it was a short book and I was waiting for it to get better. The plot went from ye olde “oh no I’ve been diagnosed with [insert weird gorey plague here]” to religious extremism and then to secret government agency real fast, all with little purpose or tact. As for the queer rep, it was…fine? I guess? I didn’t find anyone super interesting and every relationship in this book was just smeared with nasty over the top bodily fluids and tortured agony. I was not a fan and honestly ended up skim-reading the last half of this story because I just wanted it to be over.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Body horror, Blood, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, and Vomit

There’s a line between body-horror and just…gratuitous violence and horror for the “thrill” of it. This book crosses that line. Not a fan. Would not recommend .

kneec's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Omg. The fever dream. Its gruesome. Its terraforming aliens. Its pandemic. Its vampires, zombies and somehow also banshee/ghouls? Its romantic in a very strang way. There's so much gross. The shock is still real.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Murder, Misogyny, Death, Gore, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Child death, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Cannibalism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Pregnancy, Racism, Violence, Grief, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship