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3.11 AVERAGE
3.11 AVERAGE
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Peach is sexually assaulted moments before we meet her by a man who begins to stalk her and send her letters and continues to threaten her. As Peach tries to figuratively—and literally— stitch herself back together, she only unravels more.
Surrounded by strange characters like biology professor Mr. Custard and her boyfriend Green whom she constantly compares to a tree, as well as her parents who are too lustful to notice anything amiss, she tells no one of what she has been through and continues to process. When she finally makes an irreversible decision she believes will liberate her, she finds herself more trapped. All the while, her belly continues to expand with no obvious cause.
Peach is similar in style to Rest, but dips into magical realism. Both books are intentionally ambiguous and both protagonists are interested in color and water. Peach is a shocking book that crosses boundaries between things I might not have seen as delineated.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
4.5 stars. Let me preface this review by saying I might be reading into this... but with respect to reviews that have essentially asked wtf?!, this is what I loved about [b:Peach|34957071|Peach|Emma Glass|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1501497597s/34957071.jpg|56231202]. (Also, if it wasn't clear from the blurb, content warning for sexual assault!)
Writing style. Prior to its release, Glass' writing was compared with Eimar McBride, which made me very wary of reading the book. I have tried and failed to read both [b:A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing|18218630|A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing|Eimear McBride|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1374386236s/18218630.jpg|25647879] and [b:The Lesser Bohemians|28363987|The Lesser Bohemians|Eimear McBride|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1469511945s/28363987.jpg|48208213]. I had absolutely no patience for McBride's writing style. I would say that while Glass wrote [b:Peach|34957071|Peach|Emma Glass|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1501497597s/34957071.jpg|56231202] in stream-of-consciousness, there is a major difference between McBride's third person and Glass' first person point-of-view. It felt extremely intentional to make us read the story through the body of Peach. Yes, some parts were less crafted, perhaps distracted and superficial, but overall this was beautiful prose written to shift our perspective on the horrific acts within. One passage I read out loud was this:
Perspective on sexual assault. Glass challenges the reader's assumptions about sexual assault. I don't mean that she debunks myths about virginity, consent, or something along those lines, I mean that she literally forces the reader to make judgments about Peach and her actions. Most of us wouldn't blame Peach for not saying something to the police about her sexual assault, but by adding more extreme acts of violence and harassment in the assault of her boyfriend, hanging of her cat, and stalking , the reader naturally questions why Peach still hasn't reported her assault and its related crimes. The brilliance of this book is that in only 97 pages we are forced into a tension between empathy and what we may see as common sense, despite not having the same experience as the character.
Symbolism. There is so much symbolism in this tiny book that you wonder whether it might be too explicit and forced, but I'm not convinced it is. The juxtaposition between Lincoln and Baby is the most salient to me. Glass writes Lincoln - the perpetrator of the sexual assault - as greasy and savory, with comparisons of his body to sausage. (Sausage comes up as a recurring motif in the trauma Peach contends with throughout the story.) On the other hand, Baby - Peach's infant brother - is so sweet that sugar powder falls off him in droves. In other words, innocence and purity in the Baby versus guilt and corruption in Lincoln. She even makes an explicit reference to this comparison when Peach says she doesn't want Baby to be contaminated by sausage. For me, this was a really powerful, albeit slightly overdone, comparison because it highlights that male entitlement to female bodies is not innate but rather it is learned. Beyond this, clearly the idea of peaches is important and I think there are many ways to read it. One idea is to compare the sexualization of the female body to peaches: peaches are beautiful, round, and we want them to ripen faster so that we can consume them when they are most sweet and juicy (I know that sounds a bit gross, but bear with me). But there's also the undeniable fragility of a peach despite its power as a desired fruit. It is fuzzy, it can be easily bruised. At the same time, peaches are a stone fruit with a hard pit on the inside and this is critical to the story. Peach is bruised by her sexual assault and feels the tender meat of her body rotting, but the bulge in her belly grows as she gains further control over her trauma thereby growing the size of the pit in proportion to the vulnerable fruit flesh.
The ending. Of course I found it quite shocking and absurd that Peach kills Lincoln and brings the hunks of meat to her family for a BBQ. Cannibalism is a bold choice, the likes of which haven't been done well in many cases except [b:Lord of the Flies|7624|Lord of the Flies|William Golding|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327869409s/7624.jpg|2766512]. It's a truly horrific ending, but I have to believe that Glass chose it intentionally. I can't quite work out whether it was meant to reify the symbolism of sausages, highlight the destruction of flesh, vindicate Peach, or challenge our notion of the right way for these kinds of stories to end. Maybe all four. But I did feel like it was an agentic ending that flips the traditional narrative or takes to extreme the nontraditional narrative; perhaps it is out of touch with reality because it is meant to be.
I really believe that this was a great novel that has more to it than meets the eye. I didn't think I was going to like it at all, but I was surprised. Anyway, I'm not sure if any of the above is right or what Glass actually intended but I thought that it was a beautiful, challenging, and intentional novel. Clearly it's horrific, but if you can stomach it then I think it's worthwhile.
Writing style. Prior to its release, Glass' writing was compared with Eimar McBride, which made me very wary of reading the book. I have tried and failed to read both [b:A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing|18218630|A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing|Eimear McBride|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1374386236s/18218630.jpg|25647879] and [b:The Lesser Bohemians|28363987|The Lesser Bohemians|Eimear McBride|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1469511945s/28363987.jpg|48208213]. I had absolutely no patience for McBride's writing style. I would say that while Glass wrote [b:Peach|34957071|Peach|Emma Glass|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1501497597s/34957071.jpg|56231202] in stream-of-consciousness, there is a major difference between McBride's third person and Glass' first person point-of-view. It felt extremely intentional to make us read the story through the body of Peach. Yes, some parts were less crafted, perhaps distracted and superficial, but overall this was beautiful prose written to shift our perspective on the horrific acts within. One passage I read out loud was this:
"Silver silent spectres sail. Silent as they dance, slow and shy. Faces facing down to the floor. Moving in soft waves, silent, soft flourishes. Silvery silhouettes silhouetted by the glowing green lights of gory medical machinery. Glimmering, shivering like silver fishes in oily streams. Shy and silent, but subtly surveying. Seeing everything. Softly sashaying around the room. Seeing me sit, sigh, cry. Silently soothing me with their soft presence."
Perspective on sexual assault. Glass challenges the reader's assumptions about sexual assault. I don't mean that she debunks myths about virginity, consent, or something along those lines, I mean that she literally forces the reader to make judgments about Peach and her actions. Most of us wouldn't blame Peach for not saying something to the police about her sexual assault, but by adding more extreme acts of violence and harassment
Symbolism. There is so much symbolism in this tiny book that you wonder whether it might be too explicit and forced, but I'm not convinced it is. The juxtaposition between Lincoln and Baby is the most salient to me. Glass writes Lincoln - the perpetrator of the sexual assault - as greasy and savory, with comparisons of his body to sausage. (Sausage comes up as a recurring motif in the trauma Peach contends with throughout the story.) On the other hand, Baby - Peach's infant brother - is so sweet that sugar powder falls off him in droves. In other words, innocence and purity in the Baby versus guilt and corruption in Lincoln. She even makes an explicit reference to this comparison when Peach says she doesn't want Baby to be contaminated by sausage. For me, this was a really powerful, albeit slightly overdone, comparison because it highlights that male entitlement to female bodies is not innate but rather it is learned. Beyond this, clearly the idea of peaches is important and I think there are many ways to read it. One idea is to compare the sexualization of the female body to peaches: peaches are beautiful, round, and we want them to ripen faster so that we can consume them when they are most sweet and juicy (I know that sounds a bit gross, but bear with me). But there's also the undeniable fragility of a peach despite its power as a desired fruit. It is fuzzy, it can be easily bruised. At the same time, peaches are a stone fruit with a hard pit on the inside and this is critical to the story. Peach is bruised by her sexual assault and feels the tender meat of her body rotting, but the bulge in her belly grows as she gains further control over her trauma thereby growing the size of the pit in proportion to the vulnerable fruit flesh.
The ending. Of course I found it quite shocking and absurd
I really believe that this was a great novel that has more to it than meets the eye. I didn't think I was going to like it at all, but I was surprised. Anyway, I'm not sure if any of the above is right or what Glass actually intended but I thought that it was a beautiful, challenging, and intentional novel. Clearly it's horrific, but if you can stomach it then I think it's worthwhile.
challenging
dark
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence
The reviews on the back of this book were grossly overzealous. This book was one wild ride... I genuinely couldn’t stand the writing style; it seemed pretentious and I had to reread whole pages to make sure I didn’t miss anything. The story was grotesque. Peach is sexually assaulted and the aftermath is extremely unsettling.
Don’t let the reviews on the back or the summary in the sleeve fool you; you don’t need to read this book.
I gave it two stars because it was relatively hard to put down; I’m unsure if that’s because of the story line or because I just had to power through the 97 pages and get it over with.
Don’t waste your time.
Don’t let the reviews on the back or the summary in the sleeve fool you; you don’t need to read this book.
I gave it two stars because it was relatively hard to put down; I’m unsure if that’s because of the story line or because I just had to power through the 97 pages and get it over with.
Don’t waste your time.
2.5⭐
I have so mixed feelings about this book you guys. I think I couldn't understand the all of it as much as I should have. I loved the writing style and the story but it was... Too special for me, I guess.
I have so mixed feelings about this book you guys. I think I couldn't understand the all of it as much as I should have. I loved the writing style and the story but it was... Too special for me, I guess.
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Okay.
I wasn't sure what to think when I first finished this. Indeed, I wasn't sure I had fully understood it - I had to do a bit of research to make sure I had rightly grasped some of it. And some insightful reviews (Kate Prendergast's at theliftedbrow.com especially) have helped me understand exactly what it was that had sat wrong with me: it's mostly the ending. I won't spoil it for those interested in reading, but it felt hopeless; inescapable. It felt like reaffirming victimhood in a way I wasn't comfortable with, and that left me hollow.
Otherwise, the author's language is extremely interesting; the way she uses alliteration and focuses not so much on conveying story or data, but feeling. It reads a bit like a fever dream. It's the most attractive part of the book, and hopefully something the author will carry over to other stories. The book itself - well, I didn't quite enjoy.
I wasn't sure what to think when I first finished this. Indeed, I wasn't sure I had fully understood it - I had to do a bit of research to make sure I had rightly grasped some of it. And some insightful reviews (Kate Prendergast's at theliftedbrow.com especially) have helped me understand exactly what it was that had sat wrong with me: it's mostly the ending. I won't spoil it for those interested in reading, but it felt hopeless; inescapable. It felt like reaffirming victimhood in a way I wasn't comfortable with, and that left me hollow.
Otherwise, the author's language is extremely interesting; the way she uses alliteration and focuses not so much on conveying story or data, but feeling. It reads a bit like a fever dream. It's the most attractive part of the book, and hopefully something the author will carry over to other stories. The book itself - well, I didn't quite enjoy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Rape
Very chremamorphic style of prose. Initially quite hard to follow, but the evocative imagery really drew me in the further along I read. A good short read with an ambiguous ending.
I feel like I just left this book even more confused than I did when I went into it. Had I not known what this story was about, I would have struggled to piece together a narrative out of the words that were placed on the page. This is a classic example of the writer just trying to be really clever and dress everything up with metaphors until we're drowning in an ocean of pretentious writing. Seriously.
This novella follows Peach, a young girl who is sexually assaulted and how she deals with the issues of this assault and how it starts to affect her life and her relationship with the world around her.
I just didn't understand what this book was trying to achieve. Yes, it makes some interesting comments on the psychological impact of sexual assault, but it really doesn't even try to make these as transparent as it needs to be. Really, there's so many different comments that this book makes about food and sex and pregnancy and all sorts of weird stuff that I struggled to understand what was happening.
I really did not enjoy reading this and the only reason I continued with this book is because it was so short and I was able to get through it in such a short amount of time. If you want to read a book that expertly deals with sexual assault and how it affects the women involved, I would recommend something like 'Asking For It' by Louise O'Neill. There's a certain amount of imagery you can take with your writing, but this book just took it to the point of bleeding it to death.
This novella follows Peach, a young girl who is sexually assaulted and how she deals with the issues of this assault and how it starts to affect her life and her relationship with the world around her.
I just didn't understand what this book was trying to achieve. Yes, it makes some interesting comments on the psychological impact of sexual assault, but it really doesn't even try to make these as transparent as it needs to be. Really, there's so many different comments that this book makes about food and sex and pregnancy and all sorts of weird stuff that I struggled to understand what was happening.
I really did not enjoy reading this and the only reason I continued with this book is because it was so short and I was able to get through it in such a short amount of time. If you want to read a book that expertly deals with sexual assault and how it affects the women involved, I would recommend something like 'Asking For It' by Louise O'Neill. There's a certain amount of imagery you can take with your writing, but this book just took it to the point of bleeding it to death.
Wow this book is horrible. I’m convinced that the author knows nothing about what it’s like to experience sexual assault.