Book Log

currently reading: Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt and Black Flame by Gretchen Felker-Martin

in queue: Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle, Abolish Silicon Valley: How to Liberate Technology from Capitalism by Wendy Lui, and You Were'nt Meant to be Human by Andrew Joseph White

this is super duper heavily under construction at the moment lol beware of spoilers in the meantime/i am not good at writing book reviews lmao

2025

Brainwyrms

Alison Rumfitt

25 Aug

✰✰✰✰

3.5 stars rounded up. There was a warning in the middle of this book for the reader to take a break before continuing on with the rest and that was, uh, very much needed and yet I was still not prepared. From the bottom of my heart, I loved the way this was written and the book overall, but I also don't think I've ever felt so horrible after reading a book, if that's even possible. Succeeded in being gross and visceral and disgusting. Incredibly vivid body horror that made me want to crawl out of my skin. Also having the same name as one of the main characters and them having a coworker with the same name as one of my coworkers... eerie. I don't know, I just love weird, unashamed, gross trans horror and this was certainly that.

Chasers

Mariah Darling, Eve Harms

24 Aug

✰✰✰

Looking forward to reading Eve's other book Transmuted. Horrific in a very real way.

Rest Stop

Nat Cassidy

22 Aug

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This went from silly to gory really quick. I don't think I've ever heard a book be described as gory until I read the summary for this one. And gory it was. Although there was a warning for spiders and snakes there was really only one of each in this and the scenes were over and done with rather quickly. Very Saw (2004) reminiscent. Made my fear of public restrooms all the worse and the killer being goofy and unhinged and God-ly made it significantly scarier.

Cuckoo

Gretchen Felker-Martin

16 Aug

✰✰✰

I found it really hard to get through the third act, but mostly out of my own lack of focus. I loved the characters and how much I got to learn about them from their first time at the camp as teenagers to their adulthood.There wre some overly descriptive parts in this that also made it a bit hard to fully understand what was happening during those scenes (specifically when the characters interact with the cuckoo), but Felker-Martin's prose is admirable. Ordered a physical copy of this one to re-read and annotate soon.

Manhunt

Gretchen Felker-Martin

4 Aug

✰✰✰✰

I LOVED this damn book. Loved, loved, loved. I'm impatiently awaiting the TV series adaptation and hope they do right by it. I'm not typically a sci-fi/dystopian/apocolypse reader, but I was immersed in this almost from the start.

Animal Farm

George Orwell

22 Jul

✰✰✰✰

All Fours

Miranda July

10 Jul

✰✰

Typically I enjoy Miranda July's essays and other writing, but this was a miss. The main character was insufferable in a way I couldn't enjoy and every like?? queer or "transgressive" thing that tried to be said didn't feel like it had a point that added to the story??? I don't know. The motel room didn't even sound all that cool looking after its remodel anyway.

Stag Dance

Torrey Peters

21 Jun

✰✰✰✰✰

Torrey Peter's does not MISS. I loved this collection with every fiber of my being. I was ecstatic to see Infect Your Friends and Loved Ones and The Masker made the cut and were included along with the newest story The Chaser. Begging on hands and knees for a full-length version of that story. I fell in love with the characters and was SO sad when I realized how short of a story it really was. Stag Dance itself was wonderful. I love the gender play and masculine men fucking around. Not sure if I'd describe it really as horror?? But each story definitely gives you goosebumps and a chill up your spine. This one really doesn't disappoint and now that I have a physical copy, I'm gonna have to re-read and annotate soon.