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A review by afi_whatafireads
Of The Flesh by Susan Barker, Adorah Nworah, Irenosen Okojie, Mariana Enríquez, Emilia Hart, Bridget Collins, Lucy Rose, Lionel Shriver, Robert Lautner, Michel Faber, Evie Wyld, JK Chukwu, James Smythe, Lewis Hancox, Lavie Tidhar, Francine Toon, Louisa Young, Ainslie Hogarth
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
How do you define the term horror? Is it only something of the unknown, unseen and can't be touched? Or is it a strong feeling of disgust and terror that you've witnessed that can send tremors through your whole body?
This collection of short stories at first to me was marketed as such; the kinds of horror of the supernatural - the fear of the unknown. And when I went into some of these stories, it felt lacking at first, mostly because (1) I think I'm pretty desensitised, so there's a certain level of disgust that will be needed for me to actually 'feel' something and (2) I went in this book with the wrong mindset.
But when I started to ask myself back again, what does the horror entail, and I look back at the title of the collection and only then it clicked to me. These stories are not just a collection of supernatural beings coming to haunt us. Its a collection of terror, inflicted by various entities - be it a person, a community or even your own self - of the horrors that one human can face. And it is mostly resulted not by supernatural beings, but by humans themselves.
Not to say that all of the stories here fit my fancy. Some were really disappointing at best, mostly I feel is to act as fillers to just fill in the curation. With authors that had made a name for themselves like Mariana Enriquez and Bridget Collins their stories were spectacular, and if not , lived up to their name. And I loved that I have found new authors - POC at that - to explore. Its a mix that might not go with everyone, but for me, as a collective, it fits the title of the book.
The stories range from the ghost of the wife of the guy you've cheated on coming on to you for vengeance, to body horror, slavery, lore, abuse of women and even racism. They've also included one graphic short story in here, Sketchy (Lewis Hancox) which questions how humans can enact acts of terror to someone but when inflicted back to them, its frowned upon. This one in particular was one that I loved very much. Other stories like Daisies (Mariana Enriquez) , The Fruiting Body (Bridget Collins) , Apples (Emilia Hart) , The Smiling African Uncle (Adorah Nworah) and Carcinisation (Lucy Rose) was among the stories that simply checked and ticked every aspect that I love in a story. The mix of realism with body horror and just the whole story in itself makes them such memorable ones.
Others like Mouse (Louisa Young), Waffle Thomas (Ainslie Hogarth) and Bob-a-Job (James Smythe) are some that I would love if its given a slight more few pages, then the story would be whole.
If you're looking for a collection to try out, especially with authors that you're not too familiar with, try this one out. I would say, its best suited for those who wants to venture into the 'weird-unhinged-books' but didn't want for it to be too hardcore, then this book is a perfect entry and start for you.
4🌟 overall!
Thank you to Times Reads for the copy :)
This collection of short stories at first to me was marketed as such; the kinds of horror of the supernatural - the fear of the unknown. And when I went into some of these stories, it felt lacking at first, mostly because (1) I think I'm pretty desensitised, so there's a certain level of disgust that will be needed for me to actually 'feel' something and (2) I went in this book with the wrong mindset.
But when I started to ask myself back again, what does the horror entail, and I look back at the title of the collection and only then it clicked to me. These stories are not just a collection of supernatural beings coming to haunt us. Its a collection of terror, inflicted by various entities - be it a person, a community or even your own self - of the horrors that one human can face. And it is mostly resulted not by supernatural beings, but by humans themselves.
Not to say that all of the stories here fit my fancy. Some were really disappointing at best, mostly I feel is to act as fillers to just fill in the curation. With authors that had made a name for themselves like Mariana Enriquez and Bridget Collins their stories were spectacular, and if not , lived up to their name. And I loved that I have found new authors - POC at that - to explore. Its a mix that might not go with everyone, but for me, as a collective, it fits the title of the book.
The stories range from the ghost of the wife of the guy you've cheated on coming on to you for vengeance, to body horror, slavery, lore, abuse of women and even racism. They've also included one graphic short story in here, Sketchy (Lewis Hancox) which questions how humans can enact acts of terror to someone but when inflicted back to them, its frowned upon. This one in particular was one that I loved very much. Other stories like Daisies (Mariana Enriquez) , The Fruiting Body (Bridget Collins) , Apples (Emilia Hart) , The Smiling African Uncle (Adorah Nworah) and Carcinisation (Lucy Rose) was among the stories that simply checked and ticked every aspect that I love in a story. The mix of realism with body horror and just the whole story in itself makes them such memorable ones.
Others like Mouse (Louisa Young), Waffle Thomas (Ainslie Hogarth) and Bob-a-Job (James Smythe) are some that I would love if its given a slight more few pages, then the story would be whole.
If you're looking for a collection to try out, especially with authors that you're not too familiar with, try this one out. I would say, its best suited for those who wants to venture into the 'weird-unhinged-books' but didn't want for it to be too hardcore, then this book is a perfect entry and start for you.
4🌟 overall!
Thank you to Times Reads for the copy :)