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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Reviewed on Books Cats Tea
The Beauty is a dystopian short story about a small group of men who are in the Valley of the Rocks after a mysterious fungal-like infection has killed all the women in the world. Now Nate, the Group storyteller, has discovered that strange yellow mushrooms are growing from the graves of the buried women. Shortly after his discovery, he goes missing and wakes up in an underground dirt cave with a faceless, yellow, feminine-shaped mushroom-humanoid taking care of him. After becoming accustomed to it, Nate brings more of these creatures--the Beauty--to the rest of the men in the Group.
If one wanted to look deeper at the context, there is a reflection of our own society in between the lines. Men have come to define women as worthy if they are nurturing, silent, aesthetically beautiful, and attracted to them and, therefore, receptive to their sexual desires without reciprocation. "The Beauty offer comfort, sex and softness." The irony of the story is how deeply disturbed some of the men become when this very "ideal" creature comes into their lives. So much so, they destroy the perfect Beauty--itself a cyclical, ironic reflection of the destruction men have on women's lives by driving them to these unrealistic ideals. Gender fluidity is also a major idea that Whiteley plays with successfully.
The Beauty is disturbing. Like a Freudian dream that you know deep down is a nightmare. The Beauty are a mother-lover made even more startling by the woman-shaped fungus in open disguise. I was surprised to have had so many stopping points in which I reflected on the ideas she expresses. I didn't expect that at all and I loved it. The ending also leaves you considering the fate of the Group and the Beauty, but I felt that it ended on a short note that I'd have like to have had just a little more of.
Pick this up if you are looking for a good story that will leave you thinking and will constantly keep surprising you.
-----
The paperback edition that I read also had an additional short story called Peace, Pipe that I am not counting the pages or review for.
The Beauty is a dystopian short story about a small group of men who are in the Valley of the Rocks after a mysterious fungal-like infection has killed all the women in the world. Now Nate, the Group storyteller, has discovered that strange yellow mushrooms are growing from the graves of the buried women. Shortly after his discovery, he goes missing and wakes up in an underground dirt cave with a faceless, yellow, feminine-shaped mushroom-humanoid taking care of him. After becoming accustomed to it, Nate brings more of these creatures--the Beauty--to the rest of the men in the Group.
If one wanted to look deeper at the context, there is a reflection of our own society in between the lines. Men have come to define women as worthy if they are nurturing, silent, aesthetically beautiful, and attracted to them and, therefore, receptive to their sexual desires without reciprocation. "The Beauty offer comfort, sex and softness." The irony of the story is how deeply disturbed some of the men become when this very "ideal" creature comes into their lives. So much so, they destroy the perfect Beauty--itself a cyclical, ironic reflection of the destruction men have on women's lives by driving them to these unrealistic ideals. Gender fluidity is also a major idea that Whiteley plays with successfully.
The Beauty is disturbing. Like a Freudian dream that you know deep down is a nightmare. The Beauty are a mother-lover made even more startling by the woman-shaped fungus in open disguise. I was surprised to have had so many stopping points in which I reflected on the ideas she expresses. I didn't expect that at all and I loved it. The ending also leaves you considering the fate of the Group and the Beauty, but I felt that it ended on a short note that I'd have like to have had just a little more of.
Pick this up if you are looking for a good story that will leave you thinking and will constantly keep surprising you.
-----
The paperback edition that I read also had an additional short story called Peace, Pipe that I am not counting the pages or review for.
Loved! Poetic, creepy and I may have liked the second story even better?? Both powerful
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was looking forward to this and while I wouldn't say I didn't like it I can't help but feel a little disappointed.
Since my main draw to this was the concept I had hoped for more exploration than what was given.
Maybe should have seen this coming given the length of this.
My expectations aside in the end this still felt a little unfinished to me.
Since my main draw to this was the concept I had hoped for more exploration than what was given.
Maybe should have seen this coming given the length of this.
My expectations aside in the end this still felt a little unfinished to me.
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
I have so much to say about this book and I am honestly still processing everything I read but wow! Mushrooms, breaking society's standards, and being absolutely weird are all at the heart of this novel. This one really made me think and I absolutely loved it.
Gorgeous. Evocative. Disturbing. Heartbreaking. And just confusing enough of an ending that it’s sitting shy of 5 stars for me.
Synopsis:
Set in a commune-like village with only men in a post-apocalypse after the world has been stripped of its women. We follow Nate, the group’s storyteller who maintains their history and, most importantly, the lives of the women they have lost. One day, he finds strange mushrooms growing on the women’s graves. Things get wild.
Review:
Walks the fine line between prose and poetry. Deals with themes of gender (and its deconstruction), love and loneliness, what makes us individual vs a collective, the value/restriction of laws, how we perpetuate normativity and restrictive systems for comfortability’s sake, and of course what it means to be human. I adored this. I loved Nate’s confusion and constant examining of his values. I loved how weird and disgusting it was. It was so beautiful in its weirdness. So horrifying in its beauty (pun unintended). Transgressive, gorgeous, enthralling, a post-apocalypse that feels like a fairytale filled with more of Nate’s own stories. I wish the ending was just slightly more understandable (this feels like a me problem, I’m sure I just didn’t quite getwhy the Beauty all left after killing Bonnie? And left with Ted? Is it because they were dead and in their loneliness became dead once again? Or in killing their own kind they cannot return? ). It left with more questions than answers, which is not a bad thing! I’m going to be thinking about this for awhile! Maybe it is 5 stars lol. If the review changes, I came back to it after a couple days. J’adore.
Synopsis:
Set in a commune-like village with only men in a post-apocalypse after the world has been stripped of its women. We follow Nate, the group’s storyteller who maintains their history and, most importantly, the lives of the women they have lost. One day, he finds strange mushrooms growing on the women’s graves. Things get wild.
Review:
Walks the fine line between prose and poetry. Deals with themes of gender (and its deconstruction), love and loneliness, what makes us individual vs a collective, the value/restriction of laws, how we perpetuate normativity and restrictive systems for comfortability’s sake, and of course what it means to be human. I adored this. I loved Nate’s confusion and constant examining of his values. I loved how weird and disgusting it was. It was so beautiful in its weirdness. So horrifying in its beauty (pun unintended). Transgressive, gorgeous, enthralling, a post-apocalypse that feels like a fairytale filled with more of Nate’s own stories. I wish the ending was just slightly more understandable (this feels like a me problem, I’m sure I just didn’t quite get