Gory, creepy, ominous, and queer as hell. ( )

on the one hand, i knew what was going to happen in this novella from the very start; but on the other in mood it reminded me a bit of Delany's Dhalgren and that part was neat. ( )

I really loved the world-building of this, but I think it suffered as a whole from being a novella. The length made the resolution seem super abrupt, and I think it could have used more space for the characters to get to know each other and the story to breathe a bit. I see that there's a sequel, I'll still make a point to check that out and see where things go from here. ( )

Leaps and bounds better than other anarchist fiction I’ve read. This was an enjoyable read at a quick pace, with good characters in whom I was interested, but I didn’t feel like we got enough time with them. I would’ve read this book if it were three times as long and it would have been more of an experience; as it was it felt curiously like reading a movie. ( )

I started reading this book without any expectations as I just wanted to read something short and was rewarded with a refreshing story. I was sucked in by the easy flow of the book and mystical air surrounding the events happening in the town. Things happened so fast and before I knew it, I finished the book and it left me hungry for more written by Margaret Killjoy. ( )

I loved the setting, but I wanted a little more world-building. I loved the concept, but the ending didn't make sense to me. I think this deserved a bit more than 112 pages. ( )

This is a hard book to describe but an easy book to read. Killjoy is covering a lot of ground in a short narrative, which is hard—the quick pacing makes that work. Because I've read Killjoy earlier (but hadn't realized this was the same person), the themes were familiar. The balance between narrative and ideas is the challenge for this book. I think Killjoy makes it work, in the novel form, in part by keeping brisk pace and clear direction for the action. I enjoyed this a lot. I read it in a single sitting. I think other people would do the same. ( )

I read this in a day and bought the sequel immediately after. I'm impressed with the number of things Killjoy fit into one short book:

* A magical realist thriller about supernatural forces
* A morality tale about careless wielding of power
* A bit of Practical Anarchism 101 (though it may be bewildering if you have no familiarity at all with the ideas anarchists grapple with)
* The kind of loving critique of utopian anarchist communes that can only have come from someone who has lived in one and seen the challenges of making them live up to their own ideals. ( )

I read this in a day and bought the sequel immediately after. I'm impressed with the number of things Killjoy fit into one short book:

* A magical realist thriller about supernatural forces
* A morality tale about careless wielding of power
* A bit of Practical Anarchism 101 (though it may be bewildering if you have no familiarity at all with the ideas anarchists grapple with)
* The kind of loving critique of utopian anarchist communes that can only have come from someone who has lived in one and seen the challenges of making them live up to their own ideals. ( )

I dunno

It was ‘eh’. (And I’m a queer anarchist from Appalachia! This should have been a better read for me...but I was bored and not into the lack of character development.) ( )

A fantasy novella in which an egalitarian group of lgbtq squatters and allies occupies an abandoned US town. Some of their leaders have summoned an undying spirit in the shape of a three-antlered deer who helps maintain the near-utopia by slaughtering those who do evil. A moral quandary ensues.

Killjoy presents a fairly straight-forward story in which the moral issues aren’t as murky as she’d like, but which keeps all its plates spinning simultaneously. Not great, but not bad, either! ( )

4.5 stars

this was... a wild ride. fuck yeah queer anarchism though

I liked Vulture ask Danielle about her pronouns, but I wish there was like, nonbinary characters too. still, solid good book with multiple queer mains.

tw for suicide and mention of a rape. also, general gore and horror things ( )

Novella about Danielle, a perpetual wanderer, who comes to a small anarchist town to investigate the death of an old friend and discovers that before he died he summoned a demon that attacks predators, defined pretty broadly. Anarchy as unachievable but better than the alternatives; violence as always wrong but often necessary or at least inescapable. Begins as it means to go on, which I appreciate: “Sometimes you have to pull a knife. It’s not a good thing. I don’t enjoy it. But sometimes you just have to get a knife in your hands and make it clear which way the stabby end is pointing. ‘Let me out here,’ I’d said, before the knife got involved. It hadn’t been a question. Men always assume that declarative statements like that are questions.” ( )

As someone who grew up punk this is a fun little book. However, politically it is really off in the weeds, which is unfortunate. ( )

Danielle Cain (a "queer punk rock traveller") is looking for answers regarding her friend's death, which leads her to Freedom, Iowa — a squatter town that professes to be a utopia. However, something's wrong in down, and it's not just the heartless animal life wandering around as though they aren't really dead. I freaking love this book so much. It's strange and surprising, while offering a variety of interesting, believable characters. I just sort of clutched it to my chest when it was over, wanting so much more of these people and this world. ( )

I think I've found a new author to add to my favorites list. I'm not much of a traditional horror fan, but Killjoy didn't write a traditional horror story. For starters, the main character is homeless, queer, punk traveller, who comes to an anarchist squatter settlement in Freedom, Iowa, in search of answers as to why her best friend killed himself after leaving there. The semi-utopia she finds in Freedom has some deeper darkness below the surface: power struggles, magic, and a demonic bloodred deer with three antlers. All wrapped up in some pretty decent writing. Even better, there's a sequel. Yay!

I received this copy courtesy of Tor Books, as part of a care package to to keep me from going stir crazy while healing from a broken patella. It made falling and breaking myself almost worth it. ( )

I probably never would have read this had not the cover so strongly reminded me of Forest of Memory, which I really enjoyed, and I'm trying to read most of Tor's novella series. It's pretty far outside of my particular range, what with zombie-like animals, occult summonings, and an anarchist commune. It walks a line between horror and fantasy that's just a bit more horror than my usual digs.

But there were aspects of this that I really got into. I enjoyed the near-future, post-some-kind-of-collapse setting. I liked the punk/anarchist ethos, the normalcy with which the diverse characters were approached, the big questions on fairness and righteousness, the earnestness of the young and idealistic. And despite my initial reservation, I love the three antlered blood-red deer of vengeance. I need someone to make a figurine that I can buy and put on my bookshelf.

At the same time there were large parts of the story that felt underdeveloped. Parts of the story that were mysterious in ways that felt unnecessary -- like they were just that way in order to drive the plot, not for a reason that actually made organic sense in the world of the story.

That said, I'm way more interested in the next book in this series than I expected to be. If it is a novella too, it will definitely end up on my shelves at some point. ( )

Danielle is a nomadic anarchist who comes to a utopian community in Iowa looking for clues as to why her friend committed suicide. What she finds is that the town has summoned--and many of the residents are now worshipping--a red demon-deer that commands undead animals and rips the hearts of out people who seek to harm others. Of course, the deer has gotten out of control, and Danielle bands with some other outsiders to try to unsummon it. Weird and certainly unlike anything I've read before--I enjoyed this. ( )

This was everything I was promised and more: queer-as-hell anarchists versus murderous demon deer, meditations on the role of violence in a utopian community, two people agreeing that they're too mutually fucked up to be in a relationship right now but they still wanna hang out, obsessive sculptures of the murderous demon deer. Just the right combination of serious and aesthetic. I knew if I kept reading Margaret Killjoy novels I'd find one I loved eventually: this appears to be it. ( )

What a refreshing change of pace! Most horror stories rely on supposedly intelligent people doing stupid things to drive the plot, but The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion relies on stupid people doing stupid things. ( )