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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
I just found this a hard read (and not in the intended way). I know Vern is basically a child, but abandoning babies in the woods overnight to hook up just really took me out of the story. But I stuck with it for a while after that. The kids are supposed to be four, but talk like kids twice their age. I struggled with that, as well. Too many little things that made me not enjoy it stacked up to me giving up.
On the whole, this is very, very good. It's harrowing and horrifying, as well as stunningly original and formally creative and engaging in that creativity. It also has a moving love story between some very damaged people that is still uplifting (and hot).
I did think the pacing lagged in a number of places. We have to wait an awfully long time to confirm that something supernatural (or hypernatural) is happening to Vern and a fuller understanding of that comes very late in the novel. (Most problematically, the ability revealed at the end did not feel earned—I absolutely understand the desire not to end on that kind of trauma, but it still wound up too quickly, in my view.) There are also some clunky "stage management" mechanics, such as a character who is introduced relatively late, who is important for a brief period of time, and then still in the story, except we only very rarely see or hear from her, despite the fact that she lives in the house Vern is sheltering in.
it seems like the book could have used one more edit to do some pruning and streamlining, but it's very, very good.
I did think the pacing lagged in a number of places. We have to wait an awfully long time to confirm that something supernatural (or hypernatural) is happening to Vern and a fuller understanding of that comes very late in the novel. (Most problematically, the ability revealed at the end did not feel earned—I absolutely understand the desire not to end on that kind of trauma, but it still wound up too quickly, in my view.) There are also some clunky "stage management" mechanics, such as a character who is introduced relatively late, who is important for a brief period of time, and then still in the story, except we only very rarely see or hear from her, despite the fact that she lives in the house Vern is sheltering in.
it seems like the book could have used one more edit to do some pruning and streamlining, but it's very, very good.
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
slow-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
dark
emotional
mysterious
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:
Yes
Wow, still not sure I have all the words for this book. It’s powerful, harrowing and yet full of so much love and tenderness.
Vern maybe one of my favourite protagonists ever!
Rivers Solomon has created an astounding piece of literature; honestly can’t wait to read this book again and explore the rest of their bibliography.
Vern maybe one of my favourite protagonists ever!
Rivers Solomon has created an astounding piece of literature; honestly can’t wait to read this book again and explore the rest of their bibliography.
3.5/5 stars.
I wished I loved this more, especially after I really enjoyed [b:The Deep|42201962|The Deep|Rivers Solomon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1549411869l/42201962._SY75_.jpg|64281827].
In Sorrowland Vern is an albino Black girl who has fled from the Black separatist religious compound of Cainland, or the Blessed Acres of Cain. Pregnant at fifteen, she lives in the wilderness away from both the confides and terrors of White America, but also the strict, fundamentalist rules of Cainland. Soon her body starts to change; something is very wrong with her, and the ghosts she sees don't seem to help. When a fiend comes after her and her babies, Vern must navigate both the wilds and modern society to live freely, love, and learn just how truly disturbing America can be.
Sorrowland had all the ingredients to be a great novel--and it's not a bad book, but it still has some flaws that showed after the story progressed after the midpoint. Sorrowland is an unapologetic indictment of America. Everything from the government's own tests on Black and indigenous peoples to the everyday racism that its citizens normalize is confronted. I love how Rivers Solomon pulled no punches on the things Vern encountered. The book is also queer as fuck, probably one of the most queerest stories I've ever read: Vern is intersex and a lesbian (or just leans towards women in her preferences), Gogo is a lesbian winkte (a Lakota term that can't properly be described in English, but from what I gleamed she was a trans woman), there was a bisexual ghost and his gay lover who involved Vern in their corporeal sex scene, and Vern's mother was bisexual. And the prose was just damn good! Haunting, in the beginning at least, but never too overly florid and still able to guide the story in a good pace. And the body horror! My God, Solomon has such an imagination!
However, it begins to come apart when Solomon keeps relying too much on telling instead of just showing. Sometimes they do both in parts of the narrative, but we just need the showing. And where this telling errs the most is around the story's climax, when after Vern has learned about everything that has been done to her, to those at Cainland, and other things that have happened to other people. By this time in the book, Solomon has shown us all the atrocities and horrors America has done to its marginalized citizens over the centuries. We learned that Gogo's aunt Bridget was sterilized like so many other indigenous women, that Cainland was another U.S. government experimentation, and that so many people are blind or just accepting of these terrible things. We are shown just how terrible the U.S. government, and it really is that terrible in real life even if this is a work of fiction; but then there are these random interjections at pivotal moments explaining another American atrocity or corrupted way of thinking which just pulled me out of the action. For example, Vern is cornered by two White hunters who think she's a freak, but is also cornered by a woman made into a monstrous mutant; both want to torture and kill her. But then, Vern suddenly has an internal monologue about what in America is making such men so domineering and thinking they can act such a way. Why is she thinking about that instead of trying to find a way out of the situation? It would've been better for her to have thought about that when she got away, not in the immediate moment of danger. Much of the book's steam comes apart towards the end of the book, because the haunting atmosphere and mystery give way to a more, I'm not sure what the proper word for it is, X-Men-esque tone? I think I would've preferred it, if at the climax Vern snuck back into Cainland and used her fungal abilities to haunt Ollie, the feds, and Queen to the point of terror she was initially haunted with.
Another think that left me wanting was that we only saw the perspectives of Vern's twin sons Howling and Feral once. Mostly through Howling, we see a naïve innocence among the wilderness and terror of this world. I wanted to see more of that, see how Howling and Feral view their mother and those around her and what's happening to them, but it only happens once. And I found the book's resolution too convenient, it was like Solomon ran out of time or something. I wish they could have expanded upon it more.
However, there were a lot of things I loved too. As I said, the beginning of the book is so haunting and great. Vern's trials against the fiend in the wilderness kept me on my toes. And seeing her emotional development with Howling and Feral in that wilderness made he genuinely concern for them. And again, I cannot stress how queer this book is. And I really enjoyed the philosophical emphasis on how Vern is apart of the "darker" or "more wild" parts of the world and that is okay. That part of the world is not something to abhor or distance ourselves from and that those part of that part such take pride in themselves and embrace it. I love it!
At the end, this isn't a bad book, just one with flaws that weigh it down. I still want to read [b:An Unkindness of Ghosts|34381254|An Unkindness of Ghosts|Rivers Solomon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1488470439l/34381254._SY75_.jpg|55469636], because I love Solomon's writing and ideas. I think this book would've been better if Vern had never left the wilderness, or at least rarely ventured from it, and Solomon kept the haunting atmosphere.
I wished I loved this more, especially after I really enjoyed [b:The Deep|42201962|The Deep|Rivers Solomon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1549411869l/42201962._SY75_.jpg|64281827].
In Sorrowland Vern is an albino Black girl who has fled from the Black separatist religious compound of Cainland, or the Blessed Acres of Cain. Pregnant at fifteen, she lives in the wilderness away from both the confides and terrors of White America, but also the strict, fundamentalist rules of Cainland. Soon her body starts to change; something is very wrong with her, and the ghosts she sees don't seem to help. When a fiend comes after her and her babies, Vern must navigate both the wilds and modern society to live freely, love, and learn just how truly disturbing America can be.
Sorrowland had all the ingredients to be a great novel--and it's not a bad book, but it still has some flaws that showed after the story progressed after the midpoint. Sorrowland is an unapologetic indictment of America. Everything from the government's own tests on Black and indigenous peoples to the everyday racism that its citizens normalize is confronted. I love how Rivers Solomon pulled no punches on the things Vern encountered. The book is also queer as fuck, probably one of the most queerest stories I've ever read: Vern is intersex and a lesbian (or just leans towards women in her preferences), Gogo is a lesbian winkte (a Lakota term that can't properly be described in English, but from what I gleamed she was a trans woman), there was a bisexual ghost and his gay lover who involved Vern in their corporeal sex scene, and Vern's mother was bisexual. And the prose was just damn good! Haunting, in the beginning at least, but never too overly florid and still able to guide the story in a good pace. And the body horror! My God, Solomon has such an imagination!
However, it begins to come apart when Solomon keeps relying too much on telling instead of just showing. Sometimes they do both in parts of the narrative, but we just need the showing. And where this telling errs the most is around the story's climax, when after Vern has learned about everything that has been done to her, to those at Cainland, and other things that have happened to other people. By this time in the book, Solomon has shown us all the atrocities and horrors America has done to its marginalized citizens over the centuries. We learned that Gogo's aunt Bridget was sterilized like so many other indigenous women, that Cainland was another U.S. government experimentation, and that so many people are blind or just accepting of these terrible things. We are shown just how terrible the U.S. government, and it really is that terrible in real life even if this is a work of fiction; but then there are these random interjections at pivotal moments explaining another American atrocity or corrupted way of thinking which just pulled me out of the action. For example, Vern is cornered by two White hunters who think she's a freak, but is also cornered by a woman made into a monstrous mutant; both want to torture and kill her. But then, Vern suddenly has an internal monologue about what in America is making such men so domineering and thinking they can act such a way. Why is she thinking about that instead of trying to find a way out of the situation? It would've been better for her to have thought about that when she got away, not in the immediate moment of danger. Much of the book's steam comes apart towards the end of the book, because the haunting atmosphere and mystery give way to a more, I'm not sure what the proper word for it is, X-Men-esque tone? I think I would've preferred it, if at the climax Vern snuck back into Cainland and used her fungal abilities to haunt Ollie, the feds, and Queen to the point of terror she was initially haunted with.
Another think that left me wanting was that we only saw the perspectives of Vern's twin sons Howling and Feral once. Mostly through Howling, we see a naïve innocence among the wilderness and terror of this world. I wanted to see more of that, see how Howling and Feral view their mother and those around her and what's happening to them, but it only happens once. And I found the book's resolution too convenient, it was like Solomon ran out of time or something. I wish they could have expanded upon it more.
However, there were a lot of things I loved too. As I said, the beginning of the book is so haunting and great. Vern's trials against the fiend in the wilderness kept me on my toes. And seeing her emotional development with Howling and Feral in that wilderness made he genuinely concern for them. And again, I cannot stress how queer this book is. And I really enjoyed the philosophical emphasis on how Vern is apart of the "darker" or "more wild" parts of the world and that is okay. That part of the world is not something to abhor or distance ourselves from and that those part of that part such take pride in themselves and embrace it. I love it!
At the end, this isn't a bad book, just one with flaws that weigh it down. I still want to read [b:An Unkindness of Ghosts|34381254|An Unkindness of Ghosts|Rivers Solomon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1488470439l/34381254._SY75_.jpg|55469636], because I love Solomon's writing and ideas. I think this book would've been better if Vern had never left the wilderness, or at least rarely ventured from it, and Solomon kept the haunting atmosphere.
I loved loved loved loved LOVED this book. It was such an intense, horrifying delight. Rivers Solomon is 3 for 3 in knocking it out of the park so far. Full 5/5 stars. This book had me writing fan-fiction in my head in a way I haven't done in years. Desperately want another story in this world.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-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:
Complicated
It was a little slow to start, but had me wanting to know the answers to the questions I had. It's difficult to categorize because it touches on so many ideas and themes. Definitely recommend the ride of the story!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Sexual content
All the content warnings is for listening around others. It all makes sense for the story.
challenging
dark
reflective
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
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
I wanted to love this more than I did and have been struggling to write a review of it. I enjoy an unlikable protagonist, but I couldn't quite connect to all of Vern's motivations, which made the plot a bit disjointed for me as it moved through its different parts. I also liked the relationship between Vern and her children and I felt like that got lost towards the last third of the book. But, there are some deep themes around identity, marginalization, community and religion that are compelling and important. And the narration of the audiobook is excellent!