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cherylsarnoski's review
5.0
Seriously, what did I just read? This story is wild.
The raw talent of this writer, the brutality of this story is something that left me in actual awe.
The raw talent of this writer, the brutality of this story is something that left me in actual awe.
drakaina16's review
4.0
Beautiful, strange, and disturbing. Every sentence is a masterpiece of madness.
kimchi_kong's review
4.0
This started a strong 5 stars. Beautiful, strange, vivid writing and imagination in the opening chapters.
About halfway through, it struggles. When the craziness is at a 10 the whole time, it becomes mundane and meaningless. There isn't much sense of consequences in a world where it feels like anything goes and nothing matters in terms of the vivid nightmare imagery. The MC will talk about her stomach splitting open and skin rotting and then keeps on walking like none of it matters. Which is perhaps the point, but then nothing is shocking and all the trippy shit just feels pointless.
By the middle/end of the book, I didn't connect with any characters, feel convinced about the relationships, feel any sense of stakes for this character. I wasn't sure whether to go with 3 or 4 stars for this, but I went with 4 because, despite the issues with the middle and the plotting overall, Christian writes with fantastic imagery and her take on horror is something special and imaginative.
About halfway through, it struggles. When the craziness is at a 10 the whole time, it becomes mundane and meaningless. There isn't much sense of consequences in a world where it feels like anything goes and nothing matters in terms of the vivid nightmare imagery. The MC will talk about her stomach splitting open and skin rotting and then keeps on walking like none of it matters. Which is perhaps the point, but then nothing is shocking and all the trippy shit just feels pointless.
By the middle/end of the book, I didn't connect with any characters, feel convinced about the relationships, feel any sense of stakes for this character. I wasn't sure whether to go with 3 or 4 stars for this, but I went with 4 because, despite the issues with the middle and the plotting overall, Christian writes with fantastic imagery and her take on horror is something special and imaginative.
ladilira's review
3.0
I don’t personally know what it would be like to have schizophrenia, but if you want an extreme view into that window this book will likely provide it. Almost entirely, the book is a hallucination. It is dark and mysterious and may leave questions left unanswered. One thing I really enjoyed was the imagery Christian used to describe what the main character, Lily, was seeing. In truth, I think this story would have worked better as an epic poem, rather than a feature length story. Christian has a beautiful way with words and the language she uses to cast her scenery often made me stop to appreciate her gift of expression. A couple sentences I just had to highlight, “She scratched ribbons into my bare skin” or “Once you invade someone’s dreams you’re a part of them forever. For the rest of their life they’ll be spitting out little pieces of you.” While these are just a couple, there were many beautiful instances where Christian painted with her words.
This is a nontraditional story, and I am more of a traditional kind of girl. While this story was not my cup of tea, I appreciate the author’s original concept idea and her attempt at writing outside the box and providing a window into an often unshared world.
This is a nontraditional story, and I am more of a traditional kind of girl. While this story was not my cup of tea, I appreciate the author’s original concept idea and her attempt at writing outside the box and providing a window into an often unshared world.
daviddavidkatzman's review
4.0
A creepy surreal story that lives somewhere between horror and gothic poetry. The disturbing imagery and experiences of the main character seem to be manifestations of the psychological torment of her childhood. Lily’s suffering is caused by the abandonment of her father and an inconsistent and deranged mother (likely full-blown unmedicated schizophrenia) that left the child emotionally and physically without support. Her childhood trauma and possibly her own battle with schizophrenia comes to life in the story as a confusing struggle against demonic spirits. It’s a battle that lives somewhere between the metaphysical and physical as Lily attempts to accept who she is, her own dark side, and yet destroy the manipulative evil forces that fight to destroy her.
We are Wormwood is a compelling nightmare that fans of surreal horror would appreciate.
We are Wormwood is a compelling nightmare that fans of surreal horror would appreciate.
lauriereadslohf's review
4.0
4.5 Stars
“When I was fourteen years old the cats in the neighborhood started losing their eyes”
Eeeeeh! How’s that for a teaser? We Are Wormwood isn’t a straightforward kind of read and it might not be a book that everyone will love equally so know what you’re getting into. It’s dreamy, the narrator and the world around her are basically 100% unreliable and the story and the prose are exquisitely poetic. I love this type of writing when I’m in a mood to sit down and be transported somewhere weird and unpredictable. If you’re like this as well, you’ll want to read it when you have some time to fall into its world.
A book like this is difficult to review because there is a very fine line between saying just enough and saying a little too much and spoiling its surprises. Basically it’s about a young girl named Lily and her strange and dark coming of age journey as she lives off and on with her schizophrenic mother and experiments with drugs. There are some strange sights to behold and Lily spends the majority of the story stumbling through life in a hazy otherworldly hallucinatory state. The reader and Lily are never quite sure what is real and what isn’t. It’s about fear and trauma and it reads like a nightmare. At times lucid, mostly not, the imagery and savagery and monsters on her back are all vivid, dirty and create scenes of disgusting beauty. I loved this book about a young girl growing up with madness nipping at her heels.
I also enjoyed all of the dark imagery within these pages and can’t wait to find some time to sit down with more from this author.
“Once you invade someone’s dreams you’re a part of them forever. For the rest of their life they’ll be spitting out little pieces of you.”
*I was given an e-Arc by the author. This in no way alters my thoughts on the story.
“When I was fourteen years old the cats in the neighborhood started losing their eyes”
Eeeeeh! How’s that for a teaser? We Are Wormwood isn’t a straightforward kind of read and it might not be a book that everyone will love equally so know what you’re getting into. It’s dreamy, the narrator and the world around her are basically 100% unreliable and the story and the prose are exquisitely poetic. I love this type of writing when I’m in a mood to sit down and be transported somewhere weird and unpredictable. If you’re like this as well, you’ll want to read it when you have some time to fall into its world.
A book like this is difficult to review because there is a very fine line between saying just enough and saying a little too much and spoiling its surprises. Basically it’s about a young girl named Lily and her strange and dark coming of age journey as she lives off and on with her schizophrenic mother and experiments with drugs. There are some strange sights to behold and Lily spends the majority of the story stumbling through life in a hazy otherworldly hallucinatory state. The reader and Lily are never quite sure what is real and what isn’t. It’s about fear and trauma and it reads like a nightmare. At times lucid, mostly not, the imagery and savagery and monsters on her back are all vivid, dirty and create scenes of disgusting beauty. I loved this book about a young girl growing up with madness nipping at her heels.
I also enjoyed all of the dark imagery within these pages and can’t wait to find some time to sit down with more from this author.
“Once you invade someone’s dreams you’re a part of them forever. For the rest of their life they’ll be spitting out little pieces of you.”
*I was given an e-Arc by the author. This in no way alters my thoughts on the story.
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