Magen Cubed

( actual rating: 3.5 )

I... okay.

I probably should have read some of the reviews to know what to expect before jumping into this and then we both would have been better off, but I didn't.

This book contains two Halloween romance stories between two women, which is why I picked it up (also, I simply adore the cover).

The first story is a sweet, sad, melancholy ghost story, but the second one caught me completely off guard and I was not okay with the contents of it. It's not you, it's me, but it turned my stomach and I mostly just skimmed over it.

Overall, I'd rate the first story 5 and the second 3 at most, which averages at 4.… (more)

Oh I really enjoyed this book.

This is horror done right. Bleak and terrifying, about terrifying people and inexplicable forces but at the heart of it there's a core of hope, of love, of desire to make things different, to make things right. Horror that ignores this core ends up being a hollow schlock-fest but when stories properly engage with both the dark and light aspects of humanity they can become more than just gore and guts. This book for sure engages with our best and worst impulses, the horror we face, the guilt we carry and how it can become monstrous.

The characters are very real; you can understand them, why they make the decisions they do, why they screw up and you cheer for them to make it out alive. The relationships presented are realistic: no one is without flaws, no one is entirely unproblematic but also no one is an overblown monster. You get how much the characters care about one another. That's another thing horror stories tend to gloss over--building real emotion between the characters but in "Fleshtrap" it's organic and so well-written. You care about what happens to the characters in this book.

I would definitely recommend this story to any horror fan. It's well-written, scary, and engaging.… (more)

Oh I loved this book so much.

It hits almost all of my favorite tropes: found families, ordinary-to-extraordinary, dark but not grimdark, hope in the midst of chaos...and so many more.

I love superhero stories, and I love when a book makes us care about the plot and the characters equally. I love when you can at least emotionally understand the justifications of even the most evil of evildoers, I love when a book creates characters with detailed backgrounds who MAKE SENSE within the parameters of both the story itself and those introduced backgrounds. I love when a story introduces characters who are assholes but you end up loving them anyway because you know why they're assholes and because they maintain a balance between asshole-ness and genuine emotion and concern. THIS BOOK DOES ALL OF THAT!!

I also love that this story has people of diverse backgrounds come together and have adventures. One character is a mother! Do you have any idea how few mothers get to be kick-ass action heroes in books like this? Another character is a traumatized veteran, one is a super-smart college kid, one is a middle-aged man....there are characters of color, of different economic backgrounds, characters from healthy families and characters from broken ones....ALL SO GOOD.

My ONE critique, the one thing that I wish had been done differently maybe sounds a bit like nitpicking, but it's something important to me. One of the characters is written as bisexual and yet that term itself is never used by the character or the narrative to describe them. It's hard to find good bisexual representation and the character in this book is wonderful bisexual rep but I really really wish the author had actually used the word. It sounds like it shouldn't make a difference but it does. Seeing it in print "this character is bisexual" is incredibly helpful and important to people like me who don't see enough good bisexual representation.

Otherwise I enjoyed this book so much and I really hope there's a sequel!!

… (more)

Oh this was such a strong collection of stories! I honestly can't come up with a weak one among the bunch and I loved how they were all connected by themes of hunger and emptiness, desire and need, fear and intrigue. I loved how monsters were given their due and there was no real unnecessary delineation of 'good' or 'evil' present.

Indie horror is such an impressive genre to be honest; I'm in love with this collection and the author's voice. I love her view of the universe as seen through hunger, as seen through emptiness, darkness, and wanting. The writing is never bogged down with edgelord nihilism, love can come from the ruins, and ruins aren't always what they seem.

Definitely recommend this collection for anyone who likes horror, especially queer horror.… (more)