Reviews with content warning for Suicide - We Spread

I think this book will be in my thoughts for awhile. The concept is something we all fear. No one wants to lose themselves and forget. My grandfather had alzheimer's, so I'm familiar with the confusion and anger that someone going through that can experience when they just can't remember. That made this feel like a very personal story to me.

What makes this book so interesting is we truly do not know what is happening in the end. Is Penny's memory failing ? Could be, there definitely seems to be evidence for that. Is there something more sinister going on here ? Also a maybe, as there is evidence to support this as well. It could also be a little bit of both. You really can go either way with it, and interpret conversations multiple ways. What brings my rating down a bit though, is that there are a few scenes that don't make sense in either of the scenarios presented, and I'm a bit confused by them.

I do love the conversations here about the concept of time, how we always want more of it, and what eternity really means. The fact that most of the characters are nearing the end of their life brings us face to face with mortality and legacy. We need more books with older characters.

This book is also a super quick read. The formatting spreads out the dialogue and paragraphs so much that you are constantly turning the page. You could easily complete this in one sitting. The story is always moving forward, and I never felt any lulls in the pacing.

Overall, this is a book that you can interpret any way you wish. With an unreliable narrator we simply have no idea what's real or not. Decide for yourself what the true horror really is.

Content Warnings

abrasieve's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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sierrawilson23's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

3.5**

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alexisgarcia'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? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

this is such an indescribable book. it left me confused and sad but in a good way? the progression of the main character's mental state left me devastated. this was beautiful and sad. i would totally recommend this.

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hajasad's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

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indigosummers's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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hugobarbedo's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Penny is an elderly woman living alone in her city apartment after her long-term partner has passed away. She was a painter but has long since given up on finishing any of the dozens her surrealistic paintings, something that still haunts her today. Following up on a fall in which she got badly hurt, Pemny gets taken to a nursing home called Six Cedars. At first, she will find confort and joy in the people that live and work there. But as time moves on, Penny starts to think Six Cedars is not all it's cracked up to be.

We Spread is Iain Reid's third novel and, in my opinion, a minor step back. The qualitative jump between ITOET and Foe was so big that this book feels off. It's super fast paced and very disorienting. Surely that is intentional, as Penny is an elderly woman and is also bound to loose some of her mental capacities. Nevertheless, We Spread fails in executing a very interesting and promising concept. It explores what it means to grow old alone and along side another person, how much youth masks one's true colors and the uncertainty of old age, the agency that we, by force, deprive old people off for the sake of their safety and security and what gives life meaning. Iain Reid, once again, follows his traditional recipe of having a small cast in tight spaces on remote locations to promote dialogue between characters, which leads to amazing interactions between Penny and all the other characters.

If you are looking for a book that is easily understood, however, this is not for you. This one is a brain teaser and will surely have you flipping through the pages attempting to establish connections between lines of dialogue. It does, hence, have a tone of re-read value, if that's what you are into.

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fanabana's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5

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