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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
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
dark
reflective
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“We cannot get the outside world in. Women are treated like dogs in the outside world. Like we're a different species altogether, something dangerous…But here, here we can control our circumstances, live without that kind of judgement. I know it's not perfect… But it's ours. It's worth preserving.”
Dreamlike, mesmerising, sultry, ferocious and unsettling, Spoilt Creatures is a breathtaking debut. Amy Twigg was named an Observer top ten new novelist for 2024, and from the opening lines of this beautifully written, evocative and bold story, it is easy to see why. This is a story of patriarchal violence, female rage, self-discovery, and the desire to fit in. Where the brutal, fierce and untamed violence lived alongside an idyllic peacefulness and calm. It is a heady and intoxicating mix, and I was enrapt, trying to savour every word as it soaked into my soul.
“And now I began to realise. That I had stumbled into something I didn't quite know the shape of, had misjudged my circumstances. That I was part of something that would mark me for the rest of my life, even if no one knew who I was. That I was in trouble.”
The story is told by Iris, a thirty-something woman living back at home with her mother after her relationship ended. She’s looking for a new start when she meets Hazel, a mysterious woman who lives in an equally mysterious place called Breach House, a remote farm that is a sanctuary for women; a safe space where men are not allowed that is away from the judgement and violence of the rest of the world. Led by their matriarch, Blythe, the women all pitch in to live independently, feeling wild and untamed as they dig their bare hands in dirt to pull up roots wearing only underwear in the baking sun, dance around fires in the moonlight and swim almost naked in the river. It is a place of contrasts, feeling picturesque and idyllic but also giving eerie, cult-like vibes. There’s also a darkly voyeuristic feel, as if we’re spying on these women and seeing things that should be private and almost sacred.
“I could see now it took a certain type of woman to live at Breach House, and I wanted to believe I could be one of them, loud and strong and capable.”
The characters feel like women we might know, making it easy to relate to them and feel a part of their world. I felt a kinship with Iris that helped me to feel invested in her story. Like her my life fell apart in 2008 and I had to start again, so I could relate to how she was feeling. When you’re lost like that you’re desperate to be rescued and to find a sanctuary. While we slowly get to know Iris, Hazel remains a mystery, giving up very little information about herself while being hungry to know everything about Iris. Her personality feels like a representation of Breach House itself with all of its cryptic intrigue. But one thing we know for sure about Hazel is that she offers Iris everything she’s been searching for and there is a strong bond between them that fizzes with electricity. It felt reminiscent of the days of intense teenage friendships and crushes where people were your whole world and it would feel like the world had ended if you lost them. We know very little about the other women at Breech House, meeting them at face value like Iris does. But one things we do learn about them is that even at Breach House there are those who can be cruel and vindictive, especially when their way of life is threatened.
“People looked at the photographs and decided they knew everything about us. Believing in the oil spill of newspaper ink, how it clung to every shadow, conspiring grit and gloom.”
From the start of the book we know something violent happened at Breach House. Something that the place is now infamous for. But the mystery of what happened is revealed slowly, moving between timelines as Iris narrates events that lead up to that terrible event and the aftermath of it all as she tries to come to terms with the trauma she’s experienced. There is a dark undercurrent of dread that runs through the story and I spent the whole book trying to predict what could have happened. But when the truth was revealed I was unprepared as the rage these women had buried inside them rose to the surface, culminating in a shocking act of brutality and blood.
Fierce, menacing, atmospheric and beguiling, this mesmerising debut is one of my top reads of the year. Ms. Twigg is a talent to watch and I can’t wait to see what she writes next.
Dreamlike, mesmerising, sultry, ferocious and unsettling, Spoilt Creatures is a breathtaking debut. Amy Twigg was named an Observer top ten new novelist for 2024, and from the opening lines of this beautifully written, evocative and bold story, it is easy to see why. This is a story of patriarchal violence, female rage, self-discovery, and the desire to fit in. Where the brutal, fierce and untamed violence lived alongside an idyllic peacefulness and calm. It is a heady and intoxicating mix, and I was enrapt, trying to savour every word as it soaked into my soul.
“And now I began to realise. That I had stumbled into something I didn't quite know the shape of, had misjudged my circumstances. That I was part of something that would mark me for the rest of my life, even if no one knew who I was. That I was in trouble.”
The story is told by Iris, a thirty-something woman living back at home with her mother after her relationship ended. She’s looking for a new start when she meets Hazel, a mysterious woman who lives in an equally mysterious place called Breach House, a remote farm that is a sanctuary for women; a safe space where men are not allowed that is away from the judgement and violence of the rest of the world. Led by their matriarch, Blythe, the women all pitch in to live independently, feeling wild and untamed as they dig their bare hands in dirt to pull up roots wearing only underwear in the baking sun, dance around fires in the moonlight and swim almost naked in the river. It is a place of contrasts, feeling picturesque and idyllic but also giving eerie, cult-like vibes. There’s also a darkly voyeuristic feel, as if we’re spying on these women and seeing things that should be private and almost sacred.
“I could see now it took a certain type of woman to live at Breach House, and I wanted to believe I could be one of them, loud and strong and capable.”
The characters feel like women we might know, making it easy to relate to them and feel a part of their world. I felt a kinship with Iris that helped me to feel invested in her story. Like her my life fell apart in 2008 and I had to start again, so I could relate to how she was feeling. When you’re lost like that you’re desperate to be rescued and to find a sanctuary. While we slowly get to know Iris, Hazel remains a mystery, giving up very little information about herself while being hungry to know everything about Iris. Her personality feels like a representation of Breach House itself with all of its cryptic intrigue. But one thing we know for sure about Hazel is that she offers Iris everything she’s been searching for and there is a strong bond between them that fizzes with electricity. It felt reminiscent of the days of intense teenage friendships and crushes where people were your whole world and it would feel like the world had ended if you lost them. We know very little about the other women at Breech House, meeting them at face value like Iris does. But one things we do learn about them is that even at Breach House there are those who can be cruel and vindictive, especially when their way of life is threatened.
“People looked at the photographs and decided they knew everything about us. Believing in the oil spill of newspaper ink, how it clung to every shadow, conspiring grit and gloom.”
From the start of the book we know something violent happened at Breach House. Something that the place is now infamous for. But the mystery of what happened is revealed slowly, moving between timelines as Iris narrates events that lead up to that terrible event and the aftermath of it all as she tries to come to terms with the trauma she’s experienced. There is a dark undercurrent of dread that runs through the story and I spent the whole book trying to predict what could have happened. But when the truth was revealed I was unprepared as the rage these women had buried inside them rose to the surface, culminating in a shocking act of brutality and blood.
Fierce, menacing, atmospheric and beguiling, this mesmerising debut is one of my top reads of the year. Ms. Twigg is a talent to watch and I can’t wait to see what she writes next.
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes