Reviews

I think this is objectively a very good book. It weaves together themes of race, gender, generational trauma related to both of the aforementioned topics, body horror, sexuality, transformation, and systemic abuse of power. I appreciated the running theme of the body and how it relates to the self, and I thought the plot had good elements of sci-fi and horror.

I only had a couple “valid” (in my words) problems with the book, chief among them being the ending– it felt rather deus ex machina to me and while I can understand it thematically, I think if the author had decided to

leave everyone dead

that also could have worked thematically. I also went into this book expecting a greater emphasis on the cult aspect and the nuances of how belief can be abused, and there was definitely some of that, but it felt somewhat overshadowed by the other themes, especially because

the cult leaders turn out to be government plants in the end

. Finally, some of this dialogue felt awkward to me, but I also think it’s hard to write any kind of dialogue where characters express political opinions and not have it sound a bit soapbox-y. So that’s not the author’s fault.

My completely-subjective (invalid) reason for rating this book so low is that I did not like the writing style at all. As in, I knew by the end of the first paragraph that I would not vibe with the book solely due to the writing style. I still powered through because the premise was interesting and I’m glad I did, but my opinion on the writing style has not changed. I think it aims to be poetic but to me it felt overwritten. Again this is a purely subjective opinion and doesn’t speak to the author’s ability at all, but it also did in essence ruin the experience of reading the book for me :(

Content Warnings

hayleyyyyy's review against another edition

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challenging dark hopeful fast-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? Yes

5.0

pickled_books's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

4.5

Somehow Solomon managed to tackle so many issues & ideas within one 300-ish page novel, I think I’ll be thinking about this one for a while. Also, the body horror was very weird! I’d love to see this made into a movie one day.

frogbabies's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

bhofmeier's review against another edition

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My brain would not let me comprehend or follow along with the timeline or what was going on.

saltysnails's review against another edition

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I found this book really confusing in a bad way. I wanted to like it but i couldnt figure out the timeline or the plot

mementomorivv's review against another edition

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4.0

This book is as haunting as it needs to be for the topics it covers. I respect that a lot.

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