Reviews - House of Cotton | The StoryGraph

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House of Cotton is a wild ride. Aside from Magnolia’s fascinating modeling job, this book covers some important social issues such as racism, classism, and sexism. The story is told entirely from Magnolia’s perspective, so we get the pleasure of delving into her psyche and coping mechanisms throughout her adventures at the funeral home. We see things from her perspective only, which makes her mental deterioration that much more noticeable as the novel progresses.

This book tackles grief, rape, drug/alcohol abuse, abortion, and child molestation in one blow. I felt that these things were touched upon enough to get the point across but not so much that it felt forced. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this unique novel and would recommend it to anyone looking for a modern Southern Gothic work.

angelancoffin's review against another edition

4.0

I am very conflicted on how to rate this book. Did I enjoy the book? No? But also yes? First off, I love the southern gothic subgenre and this book is definitely southern gothic. I love good writing. Brashears prose is some of the best character prose I've ever read. The plot is dark and disturbing, but I knew it would be when I picked up a book about a girl who models for a mortuary. Part of me wants to give this 5 stars because the prose was so breathtaking, but when I went to initially rate it, I was leaning more towards 3 stars, because I had a lot of issues with the plot (more than it just being dark and intense). I settled on 4, but this will be a book I won't soon forget.

So what was the problem?

There was a lot that occurred that seemed random or unnecessary for the overall story. There was a lot of gratuitous sex seemingly placed in purely for shock value (sort of like when a child first learns to cuss). The plot had potential, but ultimately fell flat. I think this author has no problem writing a beautiful piece of work, but I do think she needs to focus her attention more on plot with her next novel. In many ways, the vulgarity of this book seemed immature. But I do think this book also showcases race, sexuality, wealth, class structure, grief, and trauma in an interesting way. Maybe Brashears just took on too many big themes all at once.