Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Yellow Jessamine

I don't like the power imbalance and vague attempt at a very white cis woman version of lesbianism. I dare say there isn't really a lesbian romance in this book. Mainly because

it’s never stated outright, and it’s barely implied until SOMEONE ELSE. POSESSING THIS GIRL GAY LIL BODY. TELLS HER FUCKING LOVE INTEREST THAT THE NOW-DEAD D-KE WAS IN LOVE WITH HER ALL ALONG.

Her being Violetta's employer and superior and MC of the book. Also this is like a historical fantasy so the employee love interest cannot really consent without issue. Also this is set in a pandemic so like that’s another issue of being unable to consent. You say no to anything all you’re out on the streets catching idk, piss shit out your ass to death disease.

Also what fucking relationship? The employer/MC has

Violetta, the employee love interest, doing gross shit like burying murder victims and changing bedsheets soiled with excrement?

That's not a partner helping her partner, that's employee obeying her master's orders.

Like other than the employer [mc] going on about how invaluable her servant was there was zero emotional connection. There was no fucking relationship. And I harp on that because it’s sold as a sapphic short story. Or it was to me, anyways.

i hate this. Also this book made no goddam sense and was up its own ass a lot. The vibes are fun, I got real Dishonored 1 and 2 video game vibes from it. But if it weren't for me being familiar with said Dishonored game this novella would be very flat and uninteresting. It has a very pretty veneer of aesthetics and cohesively purple writing, and that's it. You start thinking too hard on the plot and it all falls to shit.

It also vaguely reminded me of The Unraveled Kingdom by Rowenna Miller. Not necessarily a bad thing, but when reading a novella makes you want to read other books instead... hm. I really wanted to enjoy this book because horror AND parasite based horror? Amazing. The only other decent horror/scifi book with parasite horror I really enjoyed was The Breach by M T Hill. I've been dying for more, honestly.

The other thing I hate about it is the status quo, and the ending. Alright ok so the big bad, very distant government

was um. Overthrown? Overnight? You really telling me that some parasite ghost creature genocided the current ruling government because some upper class rich white woman is sad her pet lesbian love interest got killed because she abandoned her in order to save her own rich white ass? I get that this is a novella but maybe don't put this drastic shit which obviously takes time to happen into your novella. Seriously, overnight? Or smt? Like this is the age where ships still use clothe sails. How are you going to get word out? That quickly? I use question marks a lot because this plot is incredibly flimsy and if I use hard stop period marks everything will collapse.

Non spoiler of the above. Authors, especially white authors, are terrified of changing the status quo. They can write about revolution, and overcoming the Bad Guys, but ultimately the Good Guy MCs they write of simply replace the Bad Guys and maintain the status quo. White authors cannot write revolution or societal change because they don't understand what changes need to be made because they are part of what needs to be changed.

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f18's review

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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nullandvoidlibrary's review

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dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

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jenniferwong's review

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dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.25

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rorikae's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

'Yellow Jessamine' by Caitlin Starling weaves a fascinating story within a novella length. It tells the story of Evelyn Perdanu, a woman who has been surrounded by death and is now watching the world she lives in crumble. But when a strange sickness starts affecting the people around Evelyn, is it merely a new plague or is there something more to the way that it appears to be stalking her?
Starling creates a lush story that weaves in and out as we discover more about Evelyn's past. It's gothic, with incredible atmosphere and the ending is fascinating. This is a dark novella that explores one woman's desire to bend the lives around her out of fear that started in her childhood. One of the few shaky bits is that large discoveries sometimes feel like they are dropped in haphazardly. I believe this is due in part to the fact that a novella length doesn't allow for enough time to properly weave in some of the foreshadowing that I think was necessary. Even so, I found this a gripping story that, though it had a lot to cover in a short space, successfully wove together all of its different parts. I hope that Starling explores this world further because it is absolutely fascinating. I can't wait to read more works from Neon Hemlock. If you are looking for an atmospheric tale that delves into nature and poison, please pick up Yellow Jessamine.

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gracew's review

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A dark story with a very morally gray queer woman is just what I needed after a lot of disappointing horror this year. Not overly scary but super tense with a very dark message that I cannot help but love. I enjoy the way the ending played out, I enjoyed the way the horror unfolded around the reader. I would have loved for this to be longer but I also think it was a good pace, it's just I never wanted it to end. Overall a really great, short read for people who like Penny Dreadful or Crimson Peak.

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