Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - We Spread

Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

We Spread by Iain Reid

9 reviews

kelly_e's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Title: We Spread
Author: Iain Reid
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4.00
Pub Date: September 27, 2022

T H R E E • W O R D S

Philosophical • Eerie • Chilling

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Penny, an artist, has lived in the same apartment for decades, surrounded by the artifacts and keepsakes of her long life. She is resigned to the mundane rituals of old age, until things start to slip. Before her longtime partner passed away years earlier, provisions were made, unbeknownst to her, for a room in a unique long-term care residence, where Penny finds herself after one too many “incidents.”

Initially, surrounded by peers, conversing, eating, sleeping, looking out at the beautiful woods that surround the house, all is well. She even begins to paint again. But as the days start to blur together, Penny—with a growing sense of unrest and distrust—starts to lose her grip on the passage of time and on her place in the world. Is she succumbing to the subtly destructive effects of aging, or is she an unknowing participant in something more unsettling?

💭 T H O U G H T S

I received a copy of We Spread in a blind date with a bookish box from a Canadian company (now defunct) and I really wasn't sure it was for me. However, when it was longlisted for Canada Reads 2023, I knew I would give it a shot at some point. Now was that time.

It was evident very early on Iain Reid has a strong and unique writing style. At just over 300 pages, this novel covers a lot of ground (conformity, productivity, art, ageing, elder care) and much of the plot is left open for reader interpretation. The exploration of the 'horrors' of ageing and the long-term care facility really set the tone and eerie mood. Penny herself is entirely unreliable to the point I was questioning every thought and was kept on my toes guessing until the very end.

Overall, We Spread was a surprising and enjoyable read that I couldn't put down. Despite no real resolution at the end, the story still felt complete and satisfying. A genre-defying novel, if the horror tag is holding you back (like it was me), I would say don't let it. Rather it's an intuitive and thought=provoking read that made me want to work my way through Iain Reid's backlist.

📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• reflective stories
• unique writing styles
• short reads

⚠️ CW: death, grief, forced institutionalization, confinement, dementia, injury/injury detail, medical content, gaslighting, body horror, suicide, animal death

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"The tragedy of life isn't that the end comes. That's the gift. Without an end, there's nothing. There's no meaning. Do you see? A moment isn't a moment. A moment is an eternity. A moment should mean something. It should be everything."

Content Warnings

kellyisntcool's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Content Warnings

mindespair's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

"I've never wanted to avoid darkness in my own work, my own darkness. But revealing my own shadows is not enough in itself. What I want, what I've always wanted, is for another person to feel relief from their darkness when they look at my work."

With his third novel, Iain Reid has cemented himself as one of my favorite authors. I felt that Penny was somewhat of a self-insert for him, especially when she spoke about her art. The quote above really spoke to me because it felt like it came from Reid himself. His work does make me feel relief from my own darkness.

One of my favorite things about Reid as a writer (aside from his unreliable narrators) is his faith in his reader. He never makes the mistake of over-explaining, making you feel dumb. He lets his stories unravel organically without the need for a timeout to explain the logistics. He trusts you with your own interpretation. While I was reading this novel in particular, I kept trying to figure out how to explain what was going on; how Reid could explain it. Eventually I realized that he wouldn't. We don't need to be told why

Shelley was collecting hair and fingernails or how long Penny was really at Six Cedars or how old Shelley really is or plenty of other lingering questions we may have

; those are for us to figure out, not for an author to spell out for us. Reid knows how to give the right number of answers; never too many or too few.

This book mostly revolves around the fear of growing old, fading away, dying, etc. I found it very touching amidst the exhausting anti-aging craze. Growing old is a privilege. Life is beautiful because it ends. Eternal life is eternal torture. This book took all of these thoughts and whipped them into a beautiful psychological horror.

Lastly, I'd say that my favorite aspect of this novel is how strongly the residents of Six Cedars are pushed to be productive.

Shelley encourages Penny, Ruth, Hilbert, and Pete to bond—not to truly connect, but to assimilate into one being. She wants them to assimilate and increase productivity. What she desires is a workforce.

The residents are regularly plagued with thoughts that they (senior citizens who are long retired) are not doing enough, not accomplishing enough. This shame is intrinsic to capitalism. We are only worth what we can produce. The residents of Six Cedars are only worth what they can produce, what they can give. They have no intrinsic worth. They are treated as cogs in a machine.

This is easily a new favorite. Read it if you can. This was an incredible start to 2024.

Content Warnings

jessicabobessica's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a quick read for me, driven by desire to know the ending. The story was just abstract enough to keep me guessing, which I liked. When an author can keep me guessing, without alienating me with indecipherable metaphor it is a win.

The connection to nature was a pleasant surprise, and I found myself actually learning some fun stuff about trees and other plant species.

Definitely wouldn’t recommend this one for folks who struggle with dementia or themes of depersonalization.

Content Warnings