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karlakayjenniges's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
4.0
"Reverend Ford is not Reverend Ford. At least, not to her parishioners. To them, she's "Mother Kaye."
Kaye is an Episcopalian priest in the small town of Owlingsville. She questions her faith along with the townspeople who continually fail to attend services. She questions why she continues in her role for the people of the town are thinkers of the old fashioned ways, unwilling to accept changes or ways of life. Bigots, gossips, unaccepting, and judgemental. Kaye doesn't dare integrate new ideas for fear of more rejection. She feels stuck in a situation she can't remove herself from.
As she moves forward with her plan to try prayers in the park, she is confronted by what is seemingly a man, but turns out that was clearly not. The things she is told have settled into her mind and she becomes "The Plastic Priest."
I can't tell you what the plastic priest is because that would be a huge spoiler. But this novella will take you on a journey of how one loses their mind, going into complete psychosis, giving into it.
Pay close attention because this is a mind bender. Makes you think and wonder, ponder and contemplate.
The imagery and writing style is captivating. Bizarre, surreal, but entirely unique, nothing like anything I have ever read. There is something very special about this that I just can't quite explain because it has to be experienced.
That is exactly what this novella is, a complete experience often times causing me to reread a phrase or take pause and really think about what I just read.
That is exactly what this novella is, a complete experience often times causing me to reread a phrase or take pause and really think about what I just read.
draculaura_'s review
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
eggcatsreads's review
3.0
A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Cemetery Dance Publications for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This novella unfortunately never fully grabbed me, and by the end I was more confused than anything else. We follow our main character Kaye, an Episcopal priest as she questions her faith and her beliefs, while feeling stuck about them due to the smallness of the town she’s in. It’s stated multiple times that above all else, she wishes to keep her job. So, despite having multiple crises of faith and incorporating varied understandings of the Bible in her faith, she remains the same for her small church in order to keep the small amount of attendance she currently has.
Honestly, while this novella describes itself as “ madwoman in a mad town” I kind of thought neither were entirely true. The town itself isn’t mad, it’s simply Smalltown USA with typical conservative, Republican beliefs in it. And Kaye only begins to lose her mind when confronted with a random stranger who may or may not be a god, and who challenges her beliefs about what is real. To be honest, I kind of felt the inclusion of “Janus” as a character was out of left field, and it would have felt more natural for Kaye to more organically become delusional, as it were.
Personally, this novella wasn’t bad and if abstract horror is your jam I think you’d really like this. However, this novella was simply too abstract and not personally clear enough for me to understand what was going on, for me to properly enjoy it.
This novella unfortunately never fully grabbed me, and by the end I was more confused than anything else. We follow our main character Kaye, an Episcopal priest as she questions her faith and her beliefs, while feeling stuck about them due to the smallness of the town she’s in. It’s stated multiple times that above all else, she wishes to keep her job. So, despite having multiple crises of faith and incorporating varied understandings of the Bible in her faith, she remains the same for her small church in order to keep the small amount of attendance she currently has.
Honestly, while this novella describes itself as “ madwoman in a mad town” I kind of thought neither were entirely true. The town itself isn’t mad, it’s simply Smalltown USA with typical conservative, Republican beliefs in it. And Kaye only begins to lose her mind when confronted with a random stranger who may or may not be a god, and who challenges her beliefs about what is real. To be honest, I kind of felt the inclusion of “Janus” as a character was out of left field, and it would have felt more natural for Kaye to more organically become delusional, as it were.
Personally, this novella wasn’t bad and if abstract horror is your jam I think you’d really like this. However, this novella was simply too abstract and not personally clear enough for me to understand what was going on, for me to properly enjoy it.
hawlaye's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
The Plastic Priest by Nicole Cushing follows Mother Kaye, a female Episcopal priest in a rural town as she struggles with her religious beliefs and who she is as a person.
As a lover of the most weird and wackiest of horror, I truly believed I was going to love this book. Unfortunately, this novella just wasn't for me.
The idea of a priest's struggle with her beliefs and her identity, which leads to what can only be described as a sudden descent into madness was an amazing idea, but it just was not executed well. I feel if this story was fleshed out into a full novel, it would have been amazing.
It wasn't until I was around 40% into this novella that I began to enjoy it, but by the end I was left confused and disappointed. I wish there was more discussion around the 'Gods' idea within this story. Was an ancient God at play here, or was the ending a true descent into madness by both Kaye and her husband?
I felt that the story was rushed and there was no clarification on a lot of ideas in this book. Maybe the rushed and scattered sense to this story was a reflection of Kaye's mental health and mental spiral, but I just didn't pick up on it.
Maybe I'm on of the few who just did not get the concept and underlying idea behind this novella as a lot of people seemed to have loved it, but this just wasn't my cup if tea. This story has not put me off reading Cushing's other works. If anything, it has intrigued me into checking out more of their books! I really look forward to diving into the world of madness and horror that is Nicole Cushing!
Thank you so much to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.
As a lover of the most weird and wackiest of horror, I truly believed I was going to love this book. Unfortunately, this novella just wasn't for me.
The idea of a priest's struggle with her beliefs and her identity, which leads to what can only be described as a sudden descent into madness was an amazing idea, but it just was not executed well. I feel if this story was fleshed out into a full novel, it would have been amazing.
It wasn't until I was around 40% into this novella that I began to enjoy it, but by the end I was left confused and disappointed. I wish there was more discussion around the 'Gods' idea within this story. Was an ancient God at play here, or was the ending a true descent into madness by both Kaye and her husband?
I felt that the story was rushed and there was no clarification on a lot of ideas in this book. Maybe the rushed and scattered sense to this story was a reflection of Kaye's mental health and mental spiral, but I just didn't pick up on it.
Maybe I'm on of the few who just did not get the concept and underlying idea behind this novella as a lot of people seemed to have loved it, but this just wasn't my cup if tea. This story has not put me off reading Cushing's other works. If anything, it has intrigued me into checking out more of their books! I really look forward to diving into the world of madness and horror that is Nicole Cushing!
Thank you so much to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.
nerdalicious9's review
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Mother Kaye is going through a crisis of faith. Questioning her beliefs, & finding herself at odds with her congregation. One day she meets a man who confesses to her. This chance meeting fundamentally changing her beliefs, & her mental state, in the most shocking way. More than a little bit out-there (😆) but a great read 🤓
senchastories's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
Starting to think I might be too weird for weird horror…or maybe this just wasn’t the book for me.
I went into this book expecting something truly wacky, but for the vast majority of it I felt like I was reading a mundane account of a Midwestern town and waiting for something to happen. And when it finally did pick up, I found myself extremely underwhelmed. There is a lot of setup and backstory, yet I didn’t feel like I understood the main character in any meaningful way, so her break from reality was not really something I cared about on an emotional level, and not unsettling enough to grab me as a horror reader. Maybe I’m being too harsh; from other reviews I can see some people really enjoyed this story, but for me this did not work at all.
The nonbinary priest named Binx Stratford got a good laugh out of me, though.
Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I went into this book expecting something truly wacky, but for the vast majority of it I felt like I was reading a mundane account of a Midwestern town and waiting for something to happen. And when it finally did pick up, I found myself extremely underwhelmed. There is a lot of setup and backstory, yet I didn’t feel like I understood the main character in any meaningful way, so her break from reality was not really something I cared about on an emotional level, and not unsettling enough to grab me as a horror reader. Maybe I’m being too harsh; from other reviews I can see some people really enjoyed this story, but for me this did not work at all.
The nonbinary priest named Binx Stratford got a good laugh out of me, though.
Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
pacardullo's review
5.0
Another fantastic, mind-blowing tale by Nicole Cushing. Good stuff. Read this!