science fiction

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews – Challenge Edition: “Tender Is the Flesh” by Agustina Bazterrica & Sarah Moses (Translator)

(Image Source)

If you’ve been on my blog for awhile, I do movie reviews on occasion and have a side thing of “Challenge Edition” where I watch extreme movies. Now that I know extreme books are a thing you know I have to do that, too.

This book is a dystopian world where a virus has rendered all animal meat inedible. A worldwide campaign is launched to acclimate everyone to accept eating humans instead; classifying them as “head” that as strictly regulated. Marcos runs a slaughterhouse and in addition to his wife leaving him and his elderly father losing his battle with dementia in a nursing home, he struggles with the realities of what he does for a living.

I totally get the allegory; treading a certain class like cattle, the mental gymnastics to justify this, the tole it takes on people to eat people, Marcos desperately trying to hold on to his sanity in a world where humans are just buying time before they end up on a plate, cruelty is normalized, and everything is permeated with an undercurrent of fear. The writing is great and that ending? Woof… But my suspension of disbelief was tested. Because I’m a writer, librarian, and general nerd; I know the little factoid that cannibalism in humans causes diseases and is not a viable replacement for traditional meat. I had to keep pushing that aside and plow on but it was worth it. It’s depressing because, not too spoilery but damnit Marcos:

This book is good, I loved the prose. And the graphic descriptions of the slaughter of humans for consumption will turn your stomach if you’re sensitive. But if you’re in the mood, this is a great book. 3.5 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Mujina into the Deep” Vol. 1, by Inio Asano

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is suggested for mature readers.

In this dystopian world, there exists a class of people called Mujina, who have given up their human rights, live off the grid, and usually end up as assassins. Terumi Morgan is coasting through life as a middle-aged man who just wants to watch his smut in his spare time. When he ends up with COVID, he sees an off the books doctor where he ends up involved with a Mujina called Ubume.

So… This is wild. Human rights are not a given in this world; they can be abdicated or revoked based on certain criteria and violence is rampant. I so appreciate the creativity but a lot of information was thrown at me and I feel like I need to know more before I decide if the world building is good or now. My main interest is in Ubeme and her story; not so much in Terumi. Terumi seems tangential at this point but we’ll see if he gets more involved later. 3.5 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “My Name Is Shingo: The Perfect Edition” Vol. 4, by Kazuo Umezz

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

“Marilyn” has now renamed itself to “Shingo” and thinks of Satoru and Marin as it’s parents. Shingo struggles to make connections to humans and flees from the scientists who are hunting it down.

Shingo has quite the body count at this point so… I’m on the scientist’s side. This isn’t like Johnny 5 or Wall-E or anything cute and decent. This thing is a menace and I do hope they catch it and shut it down. At first, you sympathize with it wanting to live but now? Nah, just junk that thing. I don’t want it to be free. It’s killed children. Not to say this is a bad story just if it’s trying to make me feel for Shingo, it fails. 3 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Tokyo Alien Bros” Vol. 1, by Keigo Shinzō

214151623

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and suggested for mature readers.

Two alien brothers Fuyunosuke and Natsutaro are living on Earth in order to gain more information about the human race. Fuyunosuke is trying to help Natsutaro blend in to the life he’s built while still maintaining the mission to his superiors.

I was expecting some wacky fish out of water shenanigans and while there is that, there’s this lingering feeling that something is off. And I don’t mean the odd toilet “humor” (I can’t believe I need to say this but: trigger waring for piss drinking). The “brothers” have a classic funny/straight guy dynamic and the art style handles the uncanny eeriness of what these aliens are up to. This isn’t like Villain’s Day Off where it’s fairly light hearted and cute. This made me feel like there was always something lurking behind the scenes. 3.9 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “My Name Is Shingo: The Perfect Edition” Vol. 3, by Kazuo Umezz

207297920

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Marin and Satoru’s run away is foiled and they are separated once again. Satoru visits Monroe who is now self aware and in danger of being demolished.

Trigger warning for dog death and some gory violence.

Now with the kids apart, the focus is now on Monroe and what it’s learning. And what it’s learning isn’t… Great. It’s not the worst humanity has to offer but it certainly isn’t the best. I honestly did not expect the level of violence in this volume since the others never went there. Marin’s parents are their usual useless selves so chalk up another trigger warning for attempted sexual assault and generally shitty parenting. 4 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Fool Night” Vol. 2. by Kasumi Yasuda

fool-night-vol-2-9781974748778_hr

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

After electing to under go transfloration and acquiring strange abilities, Kamia makes the decision to make the best of the remaining two years of his life and find real meaning, declining to aid Hourai in investigating a series of murders committed by a spiriflor.

I have to admit, a murder mystery was not where I’d expected this to go but it’s very interesting. It’s already been established that these plants still retain some semblance of consciousness since Kamia can communicate with them but they’re not supposed to be able to move, much less hunt down victims to kill. They have mentioned a possibility of a mutation of some kind but ugh. No wonder there’s a movement against this procedure. And the design of the creature reminds me of Ajin. I like it. 3 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Jungle Juice” Vol. 3, by Hyeong Eun & Juder

199844123

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

After dealing with Breeder and his cohorts, Nest is preparing for an all out war with the shady organization called Pet Shop. To try and find out more about them, Nest decides to hold a tournament to select the best freshman to be scouts.

The tournament is a decent plot point but it’s clearly designed to have more fun powers on display and get to know the cast more, and it does the job. The cast is diverse and interesting enough and the stakes are high enough to keep things exciting so, this volume flies by. There’s a bit of fanservice but the action is awesome. this series really shines in it’s fight scenes. 4 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “My Name Is Shingo: The Perfect Edition” Vol. 2, by Kazuo Umezz

199798682

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Satoru and Marin are still teaching the computer, Monroe, until the factory owner gets rid of the staff in favor of the machines, putting Satrou’s father out of work and Marin’s parents want to leave the country.

This volume is fucking wild. There’s the Romeo and Juliet vibe with Satoru and Marin, the machine giving creepy answers, and the adults being absolute dick heads as if they needed to fill in Satoru’s insufferable personality from the previous volume. Then the tone gets super fucking dark and these kids are in real danger. The carefree silliness of a couple of kids playing with a fun machine is smothered by the tension and while I did have whiplash, it’s a compelling read. 4 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Fool Night” Vol. 1, by Kasumi Yasuda

199525648

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

In a world where the sun is gone, humanity’s last hope is Transfloration: a process by which human beings are turned into plants to produce precious oxygen for the rest of the population. With a crappy job and a sick mother, Kamiya considers volunteering in exchange for enough money to change whatever life he has left.

This has some impressively creepy body horror and a compelling premise. This is a great first volume; even addressing the moral implications of the Transfloration program. It gets you immersed in the world building and starts toying with the complications and problems with this system right away so, it’s not fucking around. Trigger warning for child abuse and again, body horror. This feels like it’s gonna get wild and I’m ready for it. 4 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Writing Update! Plans going forward.

Lenni-72dpi-1500x2000 (5)

So, since my money situation is not good, I am going to be releasing my next book in chapters as I finish them on my Patreon under the $5 membership tier. I am aiming for one chapter a month that’s as polished as I can make it. Be aware, this book is in progress. Once I finally release the completed book, things may be reorganized and absolutely will be re-edited. It’s been awhile since I continued my first series and I’m actually excited to get back to it!

I’m also still working on that dystopian librarian story and brainstorming some ideas for the Djinn, Fruit of the Dead, Go Away Girls, and Gods in the Grey City series. Sometimes it surprises me how many series I have going right now… These are also all available here on my blog if you want to check them out.

Yes, this is ambitious considering I work full time, overtime, looking into remote part time work, and still reviewing books all the while with a teenager but it’s clear that just one job isn’t going to keep a roof over our heads. I’m gonna have to push myself to write as much as possible. Hopefully, you all enjoy it!

Follow me on BlogLovin.