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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This started quite strong, but I went in blind so really wasn't expecting the sharp gear change into sexualised body horror. It's very "out there" and I found that a little full on. Some of it is just down right disgusting. That being said it did hold my interest with just enough interesting questions/ideas and I did finish it quicker than usual as it was a really easy read.
This book was…. Interesting. I’m still not totally sure I understand everything that was going on. The last 1/4 was the best part of it in my opinion as there was some direction on where the plot was actually going.
There’s an ambiguous ending, so I’m guessing there’s going to be a second book in the series. There are lots of questions left to be answered.
This is the second female led, on/off reliable narrator cosmic/supernatural, body horror, memory absorbing, marine-esque book I’ve read recently (the other being Head Like a Hole by Andrew Van Wey). I want to like them more, but I’m someone who also likes to have a solid grasp on what I’m reading.
Update: it’s been a few weeks and I’m still not over this book, it’s been on my mind and in my nightmares. I’ll be adding another star to my rating as it has effected me so much!
There’s an ambiguous ending, so I’m guessing there’s going to be a second book in the series. There are lots of questions left to be answered.
This is the second female led, on/off reliable narrator cosmic/supernatural, body horror, memory absorbing, marine-esque book I’ve read recently (the other being Head Like a Hole by Andrew Van Wey). I want to like them more, but I’m someone who also likes to have a solid grasp on what I’m reading.
Update: it’s been a few weeks and I’m still not over this book, it’s been on my mind and in my nightmares. I’ll be adding another star to my rating as it has effected me so much!
dark
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
Fantastic and fascinating start... but around 40-50% into the book the story took a... weird turn. And suddenly the story evolved very differently and not in a way I found interesting. What a shame.
dark
tense
medium-paced
I couldn't get into this one - I was going to try and give it more of a chance, but when I realized this was supposed to be heavy body horror mixed with a pandemic storyline, I just decided to move on. Pandemic stuff isn't my cup of tea anyway typically - it has to be really gripping for me to stay into it, and this one wasn't gripping for me. Might be nit-picky stuff, but I told myself that in 2025 I wouldn't be reading a book just to reach a reading goal count.
So, one thing I learned about myself is that I definitely should not read gory/body-horror centered books. I'm not knocking the book for having it, that would be hypocritical. I do, however, have a great love of cosmic horror and an appreciation of how well cosmic and body horror go hand in hand. I did like the lore of the world, even if I didn't get a full picture of it, and I thought the themes of autonomy, liberty, responsibility/destiny, and societal outcasts were pretty solid throughout the narrative. I didn't really like the pop-culture references and name-drops of current celebrities. It did seem to really date the story. I understand that this world canonically takes place after Covid-19, but I'm not sure why it had to. PVG didn't come from Covid-19, and there are some parallels that the characters notice between the two viruses, but it wasn't very impactful. I hated Savannah as a character, but I think we were supposed to. I wasn't offended by anything said, but I did roll my eyes a few times at the writing, but I like cosmic stuff, so it all evened out.