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Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Gore
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
A mix of gothic horror, family bonds, an illicit affair, socialism, misogyny, toxic codependency blended together and have me a creepy but exceptional read from an author I've never read before.
The author's note highlights a lot of triggers for readers, which I appreciated because it was a fair warning to the content of the story because once I got past the 20% mark it was non stop.
I had to pause reading at different times just so I wouldn't see the vivid images she created in my head before eating or sleeping because she rights with so much detail.
For me, this read as atmospheric due to the author's rich details, her world building, and the relationships but wow these characters are different shades of morally grey and that too added a complexity to the story.
Fantastic and creepy, and I would definitely read one of her other books.
Graphic: Body horror, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Child death, Death, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization
Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Vomit, Alcohol
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Body horror
Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Blood, Lesbophobia
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
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Misogyny, Sexual content
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Death, Cannibalism
Minor: Confinement, Forced institutionalization