Reviews

House of Cotton by Monica Brashears

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annadigiuseppe's review against another edition

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3.5

The writing was beautiful and poetic but it’s just not my kind of thing with the magical realism/haunting elements

ifadoja's review against another edition

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dark reflective slow-paced

2.0

hayley_vm's review against another edition

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3.0

Beautifully and hauntingly written in a way that perfectly encapsulates “Southern Gothic.” Interesting commentary on being a young Black woman in the South that feels similar to the Candyman and Get Out genre of Black horror. Unlike some reviews, I actually thought the bizarre concept of funeral modeling was really interesting; however, the plot just felt like both way too much was going on and almost nothing was going on. Not very much happens to move the story along, but an overwhelming amount of small interactions that don’t really seem to contribute to the plot happen — if that makes sense. I got really lost in the side stories, but they also don’t really come to any clear conclusion. But ultimately, it’s a debut novel. It’s not realistic to expect NYT bestseller perfection right away, even from such a talented writer. Regardless, I was more than happy to support a Black Appalachian author with this purchase and would definitely try another book by her.