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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
reflective
tense
fast-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I've heard a lot of writers bemoan the supposed impossibility of writing a book with young children as major characters. Rivers Solomon has proven them all wrong with this one. Some people might find the ending trite, but I thought it was a good piece of defiant optimism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
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:
Complicated
I found this an interesting read. I wasn't a huge fan mainly because its lack of subtly in its message, however it wasn't objectively bad and had a very interesting story that definitely kept me engaged. I did enjoy it and overall considered it a light read.
Very immersive and the magic system made sense, even if it was disturbing. The scenes between Vern and Feral and Howling were sweet but difficult. Vern losing her sanity as she's haunted by visions of people long dead, hanging bodies from trees or in bed next to cold and stiff corpses. Bridget a queen for sure and Gogo is a gentle yet stern partner to Vern. That sex scene between Vern and Gogo on the phone while Vern is having a three way with two gay reanimated ghosts was hot and I will not elaborate. When Vern feels everyone's memories flood her at the compound and she experiences her mother's life to this point, it was profound and beautiful and moving and powerful. My heart has been ripped to shreds thanks to this novel.
That said, holy fucking shit that was dark. Project MKUltra, Unit 731, and the Tuskegee Experiment rolled into one big Black Power religious cult. Terrifying and cruel, yet still offered hope to those that saw it as an escape from white corruption. Self Harm Warnings for the first 100 pages or so and little spatters of it later as well.
Vern and Gogo are the queer enby black and native representation we do need more of in fiction. Their story is told very well. I wish we had seen more of Howling and Feral in the last 100 pages but its a tense set of action sequences and it did give me peace to know that the twins were safe with Bridget somewhere off screen.
All in all 7/10
Edit, the more I think about Vern's predecessor showing up, showing her how to use her powers then promptly dying off after like 50 pages rubs me the wrong way. That wasn't properly explored I think.
6/10
That said, holy fucking shit that was dark. Project MKUltra, Unit 731, and the Tuskegee Experiment rolled into one big Black Power religious cult. Terrifying and cruel, yet still offered hope to those that saw it as an escape from white corruption. Self Harm Warnings for the first 100 pages or so and little spatters of it later as well.
Vern and Gogo are the queer enby black and native representation we do need more of in fiction. Their story is told very well. I wish we had seen more of Howling and Feral in the last 100 pages but its a tense set of action sequences and it did give me peace to know that the twins were safe with Bridget somewhere off screen.
All in all 7/10
Edit, the more I think about Vern's predecessor showing up, showing her how to use her powers then promptly dying off after like 50 pages rubs me the wrong way. That wasn't properly explored I think.
6/10
"The United States was a catalogue of known wrongs. Cainland was just another Tulsa, another Operation Paperclip, another Tuskegee. Who cared who knew if the knowing didn’t prevent future occurrences?"
LOOK THE WHOLE TIME I WAS THINKING ABOUT THE TUSKEGEE SYHPHILIS EXPERIMENTS SO TO BE VAILDATED LIKE THAT OMG.
But yeah, the description does not prepare you at all for what you really read.
I mean I got really horny during this book and I was not expecting that based of what critics, reviews, and the own description the author gives.
This book is it's own genre, in a good way.
LOOK THE WHOLE TIME I WAS THINKING ABOUT THE TUSKEGEE SYHPHILIS EXPERIMENTS SO TO BE VAILDATED LIKE THAT OMG.
But yeah, the description does not prepare you at all for what you really read.
I mean I got really horny during this book and I was not expecting that based of what critics, reviews, and the own description the author gives.
This book is it's own genre, in a good way.
Audiobooked and the reader was excellent. Pretty prose as well. This was cool book - I was looking for something different and weird, and this hit it. I wanted a bit more of a sense of urgency or fear though. Also didn't realize going into it that it was going to be queer.
update - changed rating to 5 stars because i keep thinking about it
update - changed rating to 5 stars because i keep thinking about it
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes