graveyardpansy's reviews
556 reviews

I truly have nothing to critique about this book. It's a pretty comprehensive and wide-reaching analysis of sex work, its connections to borders and policing, and different models of legislation surrounding it. It all comes from a very intersectional and radical leftist framework, which is incredibly refreshing. While the authors are both white cis women, they use this book to amplify the voices of many trans women and/or WOC, with quotes and references and statements from various radical orgs. They definitely make an effort to acknowledge where their experiences hinder their analysis, and they often keep individuals anonymous for safety, which is definitely respectable. All the arguments are well-constructed, consistent, and based on liberation for all. As a whole, the authors don't hesitate to be critical of things widely perceived as good (e.g. carceral feminism or the Nordic Model.) I put a lot of sticky notes in this one, and I'm really glad to have it on my shelves -- will definitely be recommending this one to others and referencing it in the future!

this book SUCKS but not quite bad enough to warrant a 1-star. it spooked me a bit at a few points, so I guess it can have a star for that. But there are so many bad things and I’ve already ranted abt it to many friends, so no need to type it all out here.

Fun, but just not for me I guess? A bit slow without building enough suspense for it to be worth it. I like the premise, but the voice didn’t appeal much to me. A little spooky, I just feel like it could’ve been MORE. Perhaps if I’d ever engaged with any night vale content before I would’ve enjoyed it more lmao

Not a bad book by any means, just not to my tastes really.

this took me a month to read and that for sure says something. this book is far too long and doesn’t feel like a horror novel until the end — even then, it’s all tied up so neatly. the first 85%-ish of the novel is atmospheric, high-brow, hist/lit fic with a repetitive, relatively predictable, and frankly pretty uninteresting plot. epistolary horror can for sure be good (Dracula, for one) but this was simply not that, as hard as it tries. the letters & stories were tied together in ways that it was sometimes hard to track: for example sometimes you’d be reading a conversation within a letter that’s copied within a letter that’s within the main narrative, and you’d have like five quotation marks beginning every paragraph. when it comes to the horror itself this was also pretty disappointing. it’s all over SO fast, which sucks especially compared to the 600 page exposition. Dracula was super weakly constructed and not a very compelling villain. esp in contrast to all the other vamp fiction I’ve read, this Dracula is easily the weakest and least horrifying.

overall wouldn’t really recommend this at all, unless you just desperately want a long chunk of a book to read that lacks compelling characters, has an incredibly drawn-out exposition, and lacks any capturing horror elements.

3.5 leaning towards 4. There was a lot i liked, and a little bit I didn’t. The characters were kinda flat, esp Ezra and Leah just didn’t feel like actual people and were very confined to one or two character traits. The plot was also less surprising/twisty than i usually enjoy in horror — it was very predictable, but that also created some fun dramatic irony.

However, the atmosphere, premise as a whole, and imagery and description that was present.... wow!! very enjoyable!! The worldbuilding was easy to follow and well-done, even though it wasn’t anything fantastical or unrealistic. I haven’t read a lot of horror centred around witchcraft as I don’t always love the tropes that come with the subgenre, but I still did enjoy this one. The moral greyness of a lot of the groups and the way that evil came from both ‘sides’ was really well done, and made the story as a whole more complex and real.

I feel a bit conflicted with the overall theming of misogyny and religion and racism. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE horror that also provides genuine and well-thought-out societal critique. It’a much better than horror where stuff is scary because it’s gay. But this did feel a liiiittle heavy-handed. Overall I thought the theming was laced into the plot and the horror pretty well, but as someone who’s pretty sensitive to social issues, there were multiple points where I felt like I was being poked with a stick like “hey, did you notice this society is racist? did you notice the misogyny?” Regardless, I think that’s just a thing that’s gonna depend on each reader and isn’t a flaw of the book itself.

As a whole, I thought this was well-written with a good atmosphere and decent plot. Even though the characters were a bit personally disappointing, the way the themes added to the horror was really nice. It kinda reminds me of The VVitch movie, but better and more social commentary. If it sounds up your alley, you probably won’t be disappointed, just don’t go in looking to love the characters!

3.5 stars — I liked the plot, but I had a really hard time caring about any of the characters. (I only actually like blue and Adam, and I think Gansey should bite it. Buzz buzz.) The worst bit is just that the ending was super unsatisfying. I know it’s different for everyone, but I’m of the belief that even if a book is meant to be part of a series, it should function well as a stand-alone too, and I just don’t think this one does. but I know that’s something that bothers me and not everyone. That said I don’t think I would continue reading this series if it wasn’t for the high recommendation from a friend lmao