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Strong elements of social commentary on the oppressive rigidity of Victorian era life and the burden of womanhood, but it wasn’t quite fully realized as a plot point. Could have used one more male character or more involvement from Mrs Van Dijck or Katje to flesh it out a bit more. Lucy and Sarah weren’t strong enough foils of each other to be the main duo.
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Classism
This book was slow to hook me, and I found some of the middle portion unbearably slow to advance, but as with her other book, Van Veen really nailed the gothic aura. Whereas that enhanced the last novel, I find that it almost distracted me in this one. Maybe not distracted, but it felt like the ambiance and gothic themes were turned up to 11 whereas the plot and character development (mostly for Lucy) was at a 6. By the last 50 pages I was pretty resigned to there being no real climax to this story- the misogyny just led to its natural end in a way that felt predictable
One thing I did like is Van Veen’s affinity for writing from the perspective of people that can be and often are wrong. Lucy is… very twisted and male-centered and pathetic;mostly as a product of her shit upbringing and dependency on a dominant figure, Sarah is incredibly mean and demanding only PARTLY because of the same shit upbringing,.. I could go on. I disliked nearly everyone in this book to varying degrees, but that just made everything more interesting. It feels refreshing to read truly morally grey people. None of them made the “right” choices because there weren’t any. Me cheering when [redacted] died was because it was just desserts & deeply satisfying, not because it was a pure heroic triumph.
This ranks lower than Dreadful Thing for me personally, but it was still a good read and very nice to finish while waiting many hours in an airport
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Murder
Minor: Torture
I really felt like this was a greatest hits tour of Victorian Gothic lit; amateur scientists, mild doctor friends of the family, poor relations, manor houses, mad aunts, etc. The setting was a stunning backdrop for the mechanic of what’s unsettling this set of twins. If you’ve been drawn to these dark, historic stories of elegant families upset and brought to ruin by the supernatural, it’s a great choice.
The author also has a very interesting take on twins and sisterhood. This also mirrors a sometimes converging conversation on parasitism (both literal and figurative). I really thought the non-horror themes were well discussed and clearly had a lot of thought behind their inclusion.
For me, this is a very easy 5/5 recommendation for anyone who loves a gooey, gross body horror book (with carriages and signet rings as a bonus.)
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Misogyny
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Medical content, Cannibalism
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Infidelity, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, Cannibalism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Animal cruelty
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Child death, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Medical content
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death of parent
4 stars bc i can't really think of a reason why i didn't love it other than vibes and the overall rating shouldn't suffer bc of that
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence
Moderate: Suicide attempt
Minor: Child abuse
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Blood, Cannibalism
Moderate: Child death, Self harm, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship
Minor: Animal cruelty