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agnes_montclair's review against another edition
3.0
I really loved An Unkindness of Ghosts by the same author, but this one didn't really work for me. The pacing felt off and I didn't connect to the characters at all. The way the antagonists were portrayed also felt very lacking in nuance, despite an excellent setup. However, I did enjoy the writing style, and there are a lot of interesting ideas in there.
elizabethstrachan's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was crazy pretty much from start to finish, It took some time to understand what was happening, but it was pretty good afterward. I can't imagine everything Vern went through, and the plot twist of what was really going on was unexpected, to say the least.
jrosenstein's review against another edition
3.0
I do think Rivers Solomon is one of the most unique and imaginative writers in contemporary scifi. This book was visceral and gripping and sexy but also kind of a mess. It felt like 4 different books jumbled into one with no time to fully develop any single idea.
I will definitely keep reading Solomon because they have amazing ideas but I think they need to take the time to focus more on one main concept.
Spoiler
Also, what the hell is this fungus supposed to be? It basically makes Vern invincible and able to pretty much anything including resurrect the dead but we never get any sense of where it came from. And the whole government experiment thing makes no sense at all. The government covered for Cainland for years and then is just going to suddenly leave them alone because Vern is too badass?I will definitely keep reading Solomon because they have amazing ideas but I think they need to take the time to focus more on one main concept.
beepbeepbitches's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
finished this read for book club but i hated it. pacing was very slow. could not get into the story.
gregdov's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It felt like a mix between seeds to harvest and parable of the sower
incessant's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence and Murder
spoookykid's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
theemeraldterror's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
I wouldn't read it again
This book is well written and touches on topics that deserve to be spoken about and publicized and to be heard by a wide audience, I will absolutely give it that.
However very often this book felt like it was simply trying to be dark and depressing simply to be dark and depressing. Constant bad things and wrenches in plans happening to Vern made it hard to connect to her, we never got to see her happy. Even the ending of the book feels like it fell flat, an attempt at hope in a book that had not shown us that the entire time thought. It also left a fair few questions unanswered at the end of the story in an unsatisfying way, not in a way that made you want to think more deeply.
This book is well written and touches on topics that deserve to be spoken about and publicized and to be heard by a wide audience, I will absolutely give it that.
However very often this book felt like it was simply trying to be dark and depressing simply to be dark and depressing. Constant bad things and wrenches in plans happening to Vern made it hard to connect to her, we never got to see her happy. Even the ending of the book feels like it fell flat, an attempt at hope in a book that had not shown us that the entire time thought. It also left a fair few questions unanswered at the end of the story in an unsatisfying way, not in a way that made you want to think more deeply.
fern_mollett's review against another edition
3.0
CW/TW: cults, abuse (physical, sexual, emotional, spiritual) of minors and adults, animal killings, dead bodies, natural disasters (fire, floods), self harm, murder, childbirth, sex scenes (between an adult and a minor, between consenting adults, and between consenting adults and consenting recently-dead/ghosts!)
Rivers Solomon (who uses they/them pronouns) writes characters who are complex, intriguing, not always likeable, and strong. Characters remain in charge even when their autonomy is taken. Like Solomons other works, the story isn't necessarily plot-driven, rather working with complex characters and strong themes that mirror current issues, their books feel like "capital-L" Literature.
I'm not entirely sure that I could tell you the plot of this one if you asked. So far as I can map it, Part 1 is about Vern raising her children in the woods. Part 2 is about leaving the woods and living with new friends, slowly dealing with the changes in her body. Part 3 is where all the action happens and where we get all the answers (and annoyingly not enough answers). There doesn't seem to be a easily definable goal. The main plot (dealing with the cult) is sometimes lost or put on the back-burner in exchange for deep-dives into the characters themselves.
Because of this, it felt just kinda slow for me. I don't have to have constant action, but inbetween flashbacks, sex scenes, lovers quarrels, hauntings, and simply surviving, there wasn't a lot of room to explore the cult (which represents the main antagonist). Instead of a history of Vern's mother, I think I would have preferred some history on the cult. I would have loved a deep dive into where everything went wrong with the original Black commune (CLAW), when & why did the government get involved, or were they heavily involved from the beginning? Why were they doing these experiments, especially after 50 yrs of failure? I just have so many questions about the cult that I assumed were gonna be answered. There's also an annoying lack of science behind how or why the fungus works or doesn't work. Obviously, it functions like fungus but isn't your regular old fungi.
Speaking of which, here's another book that encorporates fungal horror. I like how we are starting to rebuild this genre of horror.
Rivers Solomon (who uses they/them pronouns) writes characters who are complex, intriguing, not always likeable, and strong. Characters remain in charge even when their autonomy is taken. Like Solomons other works, the story isn't necessarily plot-driven, rather working with complex characters and strong themes that mirror current issues, their books feel like "capital-L" Literature.
I'm not entirely sure that I could tell you the plot of this one if you asked. So far as I can map it, Part 1 is about Vern raising her children in the woods. Part 2 is about leaving the woods and living with new friends, slowly dealing with the changes in her body. Part 3 is where all the action happens and where we get all the answers (and annoyingly not enough answers). There doesn't seem to be a easily definable goal. The main plot (dealing with the cult) is sometimes lost or put on the back-burner in exchange for deep-dives into the characters themselves.
Because of this, it felt just kinda slow for me. I don't have to have constant action, but inbetween flashbacks, sex scenes, lovers quarrels, hauntings, and simply surviving, there wasn't a lot of room to explore the cult (which represents the main antagonist). Instead of a history of Vern's mother, I think I would have preferred some history on the cult. I would have loved a deep dive into where everything went wrong with the original Black commune (CLAW), when & why did the government get involved, or were they heavily involved from the beginning? Why were they doing these experiments, especially after 50 yrs of failure? I just have so many questions about the cult that I assumed were gonna be answered. There's also an annoying lack of science behind how or why the fungus works or doesn't work. Obviously, it functions like fungus but isn't your regular old fungi.
Speaking of which, here's another book that encorporates fungal horror. I like how we are starting to rebuild this genre of horror.