You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Do you wish your lovecraftian horror was slightly lighter on the racism but still centred all white characters then killed off anyone non white?
Do you wish for female characters that start off by defending their choice to engage in sex work, then end up getting off on murder and bring up a real teenage murder victim by name?
Do you wish the author would establish a point of view character really well then ditch that point of view character for a different one retelling exactly the same story? Then ditch that pov character for another one who knows nothing about what's going on?
Yeah... there's some problems I have with this one. I liked the first choice of point of view character- she felt unlikeable in a realistic way- a bit nerdy, a bit judgy, and brought up concerns around personal liberty and feminism in a naturalistic rather than moralising way. She felt like a very modern replacement of your Lovecraft protagonist.
The horror was initially well written, and it all felt like it was building towards something interesting, but then it all seemed to fall apart somewhere in the middle. I kept reading in the hopes it would find itself again but things were overexplained and underexplained by turns and things were left open ended in a way that was unsatisfying.
Not a great read but it says something that the beginning was strong enough that i still gave it three stars. Maybe pick this one up if you have a weird enough bookclub- at least this one will provoke a discussion.
Do you wish for female characters that start off by defending their choice to engage in sex work, then end up getting off on murder and bring up a real teenage murder victim by name?
Do you wish the author would establish a point of view character really well then ditch that point of view character for a different one retelling exactly the same story? Then ditch that pov character for another one who knows nothing about what's going on?
Yeah... there's some problems I have with this one. I liked the first choice of point of view character- she felt unlikeable in a realistic way- a bit nerdy, a bit judgy, and brought up concerns around personal liberty and feminism in a naturalistic rather than moralising way. She felt like a very modern replacement of your Lovecraft protagonist.
The horror was initially well written, and it all felt like it was building towards something interesting, but then it all seemed to fall apart somewhere in the middle. I kept reading in the hopes it would find itself again but things were overexplained and underexplained by turns and things were left open ended in a way that was unsatisfying.
Not a great read but it says something that the beginning was strong enough that i still gave it three stars. Maybe pick this one up if you have a weird enough bookclub- at least this one will provoke a discussion.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
I spend half of this book confused and the other half wondering if i was even enjoying the book or not. This was all over the place and so confusing
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Gore, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Infidelity, Vomit, Kidnapping
Not at all what I was expecting from the cover, although it makes sense after reading it. I loved it. It gave me ‘The Girl With all the Gifts’ vibes.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Bruh 🧐. This book is weird but not bad weird. They literally killed the one character I related to, and I’m just here like why do they have to kill off the black characters with the psychotic happy character.
I understand what this was trying to achieve, and in some parts it did get there for me but dawg that shit was down right cringe
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
fast-paced
Snyder ends the acknowledgements for this novel end with an editorial acceptance for one of the pieces that she expanded upon in Sister, Maiden, Monster. The editor wrote: "Lucy, what the f*** is wrong with you? Good grief that story was messed up. Thanks. I think."
That pretty much sums up my reaction to this book. It is a nasty, cosmic, epidemiological body horror rollercoaster that inelegantly probes at motherhood, intimacy, state surveillance, and existence in a world where pandemic is inevitable. It is beyond weird and I enjoyed every page.
There were moments where the writing felt like it fell short of how sharp and good the story was and I think that Snyder spent too much time on Erin as a narrator. But I LOVED the triadic structure of the novel and was impressed by the distinction between the voices of each narrator.
That pretty much sums up my reaction to this book. It is a nasty, cosmic, epidemiological body horror rollercoaster that inelegantly probes at motherhood, intimacy, state surveillance, and existence in a world where pandemic is inevitable. It is beyond weird and I enjoyed every page.
There were moments where the writing felt like it fell short of how sharp and good the story was and I think that Snyder spent too much time on Erin as a narrator. But I LOVED the triadic structure of the novel and was impressed by the distinction between the voices of each narrator.