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mxunsmiley's review against another edition
5.0
Where do I begin with this book? It's hard for me to articulate all the reasons I love it in a way that seems to fit how good it is. Rivers Solomon has reimagined gothic horror and translated it to capture Black generational racial trauma that is genuinely terrifying. The hauntings they describe as actual physical manifestations of that trauma was so unique.
I love the many critiques they offer of everything from the imperialist, genocidal project of the United States to white gay complicity in that project to children's expected deference to authority.
Vern is extremely complex and sometimes unlikable, though her actions and thoughts are very well-explored and justified. I love that she clearly doesn't know how to love, yet still displays it and gradually fully consciously, and has conflicted feelings about motherhood, while the author continues to humanize her. So many of the other characters are equally as interesting. I love that the author shows rather than tells, which of course is how stories should be told but lately, while I do enjoy books despite this for reasons from plot to characters, that seems to be rarer and rarer.
There's a lot of echos of Butler here but I think they've carved their own domain as well. Probably the only complaint one may have is that they come across as didactic in tone in some parts of the narrative, which pulls you away from the story, but it's negligible in my opinion.
In addition, the imagery they use is so wide and worthy of a lot of thought and analysis. I love the fungi imagery especially. The allusions to Exodus were also very interesting to me, particularly the river carrying and saving Moses even as it killed so many other first-born Hebrews male children. There's a lot to think about!
I also love
Honestly too much to say! I just highly recommend it but warnings for antiblack racism involving experimentation, cults, abuse, self-harm, body horror, gore, violence, cannibalism... It's very heavy, much like Solomon's other book, An Unkindness of Ghosts, so I would tread with caution if you are squeamish about body horror and gore especially.
I love the many critiques they offer of everything from the imperialist, genocidal project of the United States to white gay complicity in that project to children's expected deference to authority.
Vern is extremely complex and sometimes unlikable, though her actions and thoughts are very well-explored and justified. I love that she clearly doesn't know how to love, yet still displays it and gradually fully consciously, and has conflicted feelings about motherhood, while the author continues to humanize her. So many of the other characters are equally as interesting. I love that the author shows rather than tells, which of course is how stories should be told but lately, while I do enjoy books despite this for reasons from plot to characters, that seems to be rarer and rarer.
There's a lot of echos of Butler here but I think they've carved their own domain as well. Probably the only complaint one may have is that they come across as didactic in tone in some parts of the narrative, which pulls you away from the story, but it's negligible in my opinion.
In addition, the imagery they use is so wide and worthy of a lot of thought and analysis. I love the fungi imagery especially. The allusions to Exodus were also very interesting to me, particularly the river carrying and saving Moses even as it killed so many other first-born Hebrews male children. There's a lot to think about!
I also love
Spoiler
how they wrote a sex scene between HIV-positive men and portrayed it as desirable, not contemptible.Honestly too much to say! I just highly recommend it but warnings for antiblack racism involving experimentation, cults, abuse, self-harm, body horror, gore, violence, cannibalism... It's very heavy, much like Solomon's other book, An Unkindness of Ghosts, so I would tread with caution if you are squeamish about body horror and gore especially.
honnari_hannya's review against another edition
3.0
Not exactly what I was expecting, but was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this. I thought for sure this was going to be some sort of dystopian speculative novel, but it was set very much in the present and had more of a medical/creature feature sort of flair. I will say that this is NOT a gothic (and will publishers please stop pitching everything with ghosts as a gothic????? It is misleading). The rating is mostly due to the ending for me, which fell apart and got a little explainy—including a few "villain tells all" moments that could have been cut out.
enbylievable's review against another edition
5.0
Amazingly well written!! I loved the intersectionalities of the queer experience, American colonialism/racism, and freaky mushroom shit. I also loved that the queer couple were happy in the end and one of them didn't die. This was a great start to my 2022 reading challenge and I was so thrilled with all of the nuance in this book. If you're anti-establishment, an anarchist, queer, and/or into mushrooms, you'll enjoy this one.
starcatcher79's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
ineffablebob's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Rivers Solomon's Sorrowland is not easily categorized. It's sort of a modern fantasy, with the protagonist Vern seeing ghosts and manifesting strange physical abilities and ailments, that later morphs into more of a sci-fi story as some of those effects are explained. Vern is an albino African-American teen who runs away from an all-Black cult compound then gives birth to twin children in the woods and spends years raising them there. That's a whole lot going on in that last sentence and it only describes the first part of the book, lots more happens later on. Cultural concepts show up around every corner: queer relationships, cult dynamics, gender flexibility, communal land use without ownership, racial injustice, misogyny, abuse of government power. As you can tell from that partial list, this is a very culturally progressive book, but I didn't feel like it was preaching on any particular topic - mostly the concepts just show up in a conversation or two along Vern's journey and then she moves on. To me, the book seemed disjointed and overwritten: sometimes strange stuff just happens out of nowhere, other parts where pages are spent describing the details of minor events, the occasional explicit sex scene, and long chunks of Vern being stubborn and refusing offered help. But then, I don't think this book was written for me, and I suspect what seems overwritten to me will speak powerfully to the right audience.
notesurfer's review against another edition
Sorrowland is true to its name. Solomon is a good writer, but the emotional charge of this book is monotonous. It's not quite wallowing, but it is constantly returning to the misery of existence with a kind of dramatic minimalism, flirting with the threshold of boredom. There's a sentence that sums up the tone nicely. It begins: "One bright September evening hot as freshly whipped flesh . . ."
beth_zovko's review against another edition
3.0
Finally finished. Don't know why this was such a slog for me--the writing was beautiful and the timeline was fast-paced and the story frightening, but Vern was unlikeable and the plot lagged in the middle. The story felt like too much and not enough...
frazilice's review
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jess_mango's review against another edition
4.0
Awesome, dark and emotional.
Sorrowland is a story that could ALMOST be true. It is the story of how American society sees Black bodies as less than and something to do with as they want without asking. Vern is an 8-month pregnant teen when she runs away from Cainland, the strict religious commune where she lives. There the residents live closed away from the rest of the world and are given regular dosages of mysterious drugs. Vern has a rebellious spirit and can't take the strange rules anymore, so escapes. She ends up giving birth to her twins in the woods and raises them there through their toddlerhood. Even in the woods, Vern is haunted by visions of others from Cainland. Meanwhile her body is also going through an inexplicable transformation giving her increasing strength.
This is a book was a melding of social commentary, fantasy and horror. In our real history we have seen cases of Black people being used and abused by society and the government. With their lyrical storytelling, Rivers Solomon brings to life a story that casts a strange, fantastical light on what could happen. I loved this book and all it had to say.
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!
Sorrowland is a story that could ALMOST be true. It is the story of how American society sees Black bodies as less than and something to do with as they want without asking. Vern is an 8-month pregnant teen when she runs away from Cainland, the strict religious commune where she lives. There the residents live closed away from the rest of the world and are given regular dosages of mysterious drugs. Vern has a rebellious spirit and can't take the strange rules anymore, so escapes. She ends up giving birth to her twins in the woods and raises them there through their toddlerhood. Even in the woods, Vern is haunted by visions of others from Cainland. Meanwhile her body is also going through an inexplicable transformation giving her increasing strength.
This is a book was a melding of social commentary, fantasy and horror. In our real history we have seen cases of Black people being used and abused by society and the government. With their lyrical storytelling, Rivers Solomon brings to life a story that casts a strange, fantastical light on what could happen. I loved this book and all it had to say.
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!