DNF @ 20%Having read some of Khaw's horror (mostly short stories, but I would argue that's the best way to really get a taste for the writing style: when no words can be wasted), I knew to expect highly detailed and evocative body horror. What I didn't expect was just how... Wordy this book was. It reminded me of trying to read Turn of the Screw before The Haunting of Bly Manor came out on Netflix: I thought to myself "oh, it's pretty short; shouldn't take long." Instead (and Khaw does the exact...

Every year I seem to read at least one book where after I finish I have to ask myself “what the hell did I just read?” well this was my WTH book for 2021. I was really excited to read this; morally grey, angry and dangerous, sapphic cyborgs out to find their missing friend while under their own death warrant… I mean that sounded pretty damn cool to me. This wasn’t on my most anticipate list of 21, but this book was high up there of books I was excited to read. Unfortunately, this was not what I

I wish I could give this a higher score, but that score would be very false. I actually can’t remember the last time a book fell below my expectations this hard.I read These Deathless Bones by Cassandra Khaw a few months back and gave it 4 stars and have really been looking forward to their upcoming novella Nothing But Blackened Teeth. I was also looking forward to The All-Consuming World and was more than excited when I was granted an ARC of it.Unfortunately, this novel was almost unreadable. I...

on another episode of me being disappointed by books that sound good: nothing captured my attention, no strong worldbuilding and i had a difficult time getting through the chapters. also, personal opinion but there was so much profanity every four sentences that it kinda put me off, even though i generally don't mind swearing in books.

Generally do not like to give a bad review, especially when the book is freely given to me. However I read several chapters and have no idea if the author can write or not. It was like reading a dictionary without a story. Chapter after chapter of random vocabulary words that told me nothing except the author loves the word fuck! My eyes glazed over after a couple more pages and it became one of the very few DNF books on my shelves. Very convoluted descriptions of everything, will not try this a...

I have loved so many of Cassandra Khaw's other books and short stories, but this didn't feel like her - instead of the punky, rebelliously ornate scifi that I think it was meant to be, it just felt like a mess.Plenty of other reviewers have covered the points I want to say, so I'll keep this brief, because I hate writing negative reviews for books - no matter what else, writing a book is deeply personal, hard work, and reading is so subjective that just because I didn't like it doesn't make it b...

So yeah, I tapped out and couldn’t finish this book. Sorry dudes, I very rarely do this, and I did try to push through, but the grind wore me down. It’s such a shame because the story has everything I would want in a book. Hell, it has everything I dream of. I was so amped to read this book that I texted my friends to let them know that I’d be ignoring them for a bit. Except I forgot to let my mom know and she called me when I was just getting settled in to read. “Not now mom, I got my Yeti Ramb...

the all-consuming world redefines the word page-turner - the plot races at a whirlwind pace, its permutable rabble of ragtag protagonists playing one reckless risk after another, running against the perils that plague them at a rate of knots. introducing us to a compellingly eccentric cosmos of corrupt AIs, custom-made cyborgs and avenging clones, Cassandra Khaw artfully evades the catch of infodumping, crafting an eclectic cast of casualty-prone, expletive-loving characters. and how can i artic...

Fun stats time: there are ~700 'fuck's, 21 'goddamn's in all its glory-bearing variants, 12 straightforward 'c*nt's and 3 'vantablack's in this text. Anyway, what's with all the 'fucking' used on every other page? No, multiple times on most pages.:Q: the fuck-do-we-do-now silence .... fucking delighted ... Fuck. I knew it. I fucking knew it. I fucking told you ...“Wait, I thought you fucking said you found her already—”...“You said she fucking contacted you.”“What the fuck is this shit?” ... “I

On my blog. Actual rating 2.5Rep: sapphic mcs, nonbinary mc, genderfluid mcCWs: suicide, eye gore, violence, surgical procedures, amputationGalley provided by publisherThe All-Consuming World, for me, was a book that was a whole lot of vibes, and not a lot of actual… anything else almost. I’m not even sure I can truly say I liked this book, in part because I’m not sure if I know what was going on half the time. There’s a heist? An estranged team of criminals? They want to tear down some syste

3.5 stars. With every flesh-shredding bullet, Cassandra Khaw's main character Maya swaggers and shoots her way into and out of every situation she gets in in this wild, ultra-violent and spectacularly profane and fast-moving and sometimes impenetrable plot.On the surface, this is a getting the band back together type stories, if your band is a group of women who happen to be clones, criminals, and have a serious case of "I hate you" for each other. It turns out there's a legit reason for the ani...

I'm really sad that I didn't enjoy this one, it was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I feel like if you enjoy the writing of this book, you'll love it. Unfortunately, the writing really grated on me and overshadowed everything else I could have loved about the book. It felt like I was reading a thesaurus sprinkled with swear words. It felt like a struggle to sit down and read, to figure out who the characters were, or what they were doing. I didn't enjoy myself at all. It's such a s...

The All-Consuming World is a little bit heist novel, a little bit noir narration, a hint of Lovecraftian, and a whole lot of gritty sci fi. Maya is a rabid dog of a mercenary clone who is ready to fist fight with god. She is entirely, illogically, wholeheartedly devoted to Rita, a mad scientist type. Rita is cold, withholds affection, and is always pulling the strings in an elaborate scheme. She’s manipulative, even cruel, and always five steps ahead of anyone else.This is a fairly short book at...

If you held me at gunpoint and asked me to name a single thing that happened in this book, I wouldn’t be able to. This writing style seems to be designed to be skipped over. I understood the words individually, but the paragraphs registered as complete blanks in my brain. I don’t even know what rating to give.

Okay, so it turns out I'm a total fanboy -- still -- for Cassandra Khaw. We're moving way beyond Lovecraftian food shows and diving head-first into an amped-up version of Altered Carbon, classic Heist fiction, enough ammunition to choke a city, and world-eating super AIs to keep things toasty. Delicious. Fast-paced. Salty as all hell.In a universe where it's all dog-eat-cyborg, only the angriest survive -- and believe me, this novel is ALL about the rage, the pain, and the f***ed up Lesbian Cybo...

Stunning, expansive, punk, angry, imaginative, dense, ornate, turbulent, brilliantThe All-Consuming World was a book that I was really anticipating coming out. When Erewhon sent me a copy in the mail I was absolutely overjoyed! Erewhon books is one of my favorite publishers, and Cassandra Khaw has other incredible works out. Honestly, opening this book at first was a bit of a challenge. The world-building is dense but flowery all at once and unique to any similar books that I’ve read before, so

I honestly wanted to like this, and forced myself to read through the superfluous and pretentious writing, but unfortunately didn't enjoy any of it after a couple of chapters. What's happening? Something to do with Dimmuborgir, but it's all lost in the overly crass drivel. I'm really hoping Shaw's Nothing But Blackened Teeth is nothing like this, because it's one of my most anticipated reads of 2021 (and mainly because of that cover!)DNF. Many thanks to the publisher for the ARC, but didn't enjo...

I'm deeply torn about this one. On one hand, I adore the things that Khaw does with language. This little novella took me ages to read because I kept going back to reread over and over their frenetic, frankly bonkers phrasing in absolute marvel. I love Maya especially as a character, and if her endlessly repetitive, "Fuck this, fuck you, and fuck that too," attitude grated a bit in the beginning, I found her character arc fulfilling, and this entire book stuffed with flashy, awesome ideas and ch...

You'll love it or hate it. I hated it. That happens. All of the following is more about me than about the author, although many of the reviews here seem to be with me. I'm no fucking saint, but if I wanted a big dose of "Fuck this fuckety-fucking fuckery" I'd have watched Peter Capaldi as Malcolm Tucker. OK, their world is a dystopia, and their situation is too, but we get that. If I wanted a thesaurus gone amok, I'd re-read The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (Hellfire!) which is, amazingly, even...

1.5I got an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Now that it’s officially available to everyone, it’s time for me to bite the bullet and sadly slide this off into my DNF pit, with only casual hope of excavating it later.I really wanted to like this book. What’s not to love about angry, gun-slinging, sapphic cyborgs scraping by in a post-apocalyptic universe? It has me written all over it, right down to the ample trauma baggage everyone carries and deft exploration of...