319 ratings (4.05 avg)
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Stacks

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Stacks is Currently Reading

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Blood Over Bright Haven

by M.L. Wang (Goodreads Author)

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Jan 15, 2026 03:50PM

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Carrion Comfort

by Dan Simmons

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Jul 13, 2025 07:34PM

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Imajica

by Clive Barker (Goodreads Author)

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Stacks said: " Ooooof... this did NOT age well.

I read this book multiple times in my teens and early twenties, having very little knowledge about representation problems, consent issues, etc. I was a young, naive idiot that got lost in the world-building and robust Ooooof... this did NOT age well.

I read this book multiple times in my teens and early twenties, having very little knowledge about representation problems, consent issues, etc. I was a young, naive idiot that got lost in the world-building and robust mythology. I'm always excited about a world and universe so complex it requires a glossary or character list.

That said... oof. The book is rife with consent issues, two dimensional women, problematic representations of race and queerness, and graphic unnecessary sexual adventure that adds little to the plot. No less than three times in the book's first half are rape scenes treated as romantic (does anyone like a surprise wake-up call with anal penetration at 3 am? Would we all be touched if our friends shape shifted into other people and then bedded us without telling us the truth?)

The main character is also painted as this attractive, endlessly handsome bohemian artist that no one can resist, except for the fact that he's... unreliable, backstabbing, a lecherous cheater, violently jealous, slut-shaming.... Clive... Clive, Clive, Clive. Ask yourself - would you ever date the characters you are writing? Let alone... give them the time of day?

Gentle constantly gets a pass because he -cares- and he -has so much love to give-, but when you put this on paper, he's just another male victimhood-seeking player who gets away with everything that we loathe men for getting away with.

The femme protagonist, Judith, has no set motivations or values other than wanting to be included in whatever cosmic mystery the men in her life are wrapped up in. She jumps from lover to lover in pursuit of The Truth, but never reflecting on what that truth means to herself, the world around her, or the choices she's making. She just wants to hang out with the awful dudes all the time. None of which are written in a way that anyone would want to spend any time with them.

So why 3 stars?

The world building, mythology, settings, and action sequences are beautiful. Clive Barker is a painter with words, even if the picture he paints fully showcases his privilege and oblivious racism/misogyny/consent-counfounded nature/transphobia as an affluent cis white man whose creative career was thriving in the 80s.

That said, one can hope he's come a long way, but this book is planted firmly in a painfully tonedeaf place in time. ...more "

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(85%)
— Dec 30, 2025 12:04PM

Feb 28, 2021 03:51PM · see review