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wordsareworlds's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This book starts off so strongly, and has an amazing premise. But for me, the structure of it being a kind of memoir told to the narrator we meet first didn't work particularly well. It ended up feeling like more of a prologue than the first of a trilogy, and the style made me feel too removed from Molly and the emotions she was feeling throughout.
Oddly, it may have worked better as a short story, where we didn't have quite so many moments in Molly's life explained and the identity of the person at the start a bigger reveal at the end. I may pick up the other two in the trilogy, but I'm not particularly anxious to do so. I do believe that the story could work very well for people who aren't alienated by the framework.
Oddly, it may have worked better as a short story, where we didn't have quite so many moments in Molly's life explained and the identity of the person at the start a bigger reveal at the end. I may pick up the other two in the trilogy, but I'm not particularly anxious to do so. I do believe that the story could work very well for people who aren't alienated by the framework.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death of parent, Self harm, Suicide, Sexual content, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Cancer, and Terminal illness
amandadevoursbooks's review
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This is the first novella in a trilogy about molly southbourne. Every time Molly bleeds, her blood spawns a clone who then attempts to kill Molly. This is gritty, gory, and violent, and it takes place as Molly is growing up and heading off to school. I accidently read this one second.
It is a hard book for me to give a rating on. I am glad I read it. It was well-written. I didn't find it deeply meaningful, and it asked more questions than it answered. BUT in the trilogy. It makes sense.
It is a hard book for me to give a rating on. I am glad I read it. It was well-written. I didn't find it deeply meaningful, and it asked more questions than it answered. BUT in the trilogy. It makes sense.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide, and Murder
sarah984's review
dark
mysterious
fast-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? It's complicated
3.0
I liked the premise enough to try out the next one, but I thought the actual story was a bit weak. The Russian stereotypes were silly and I thought the true nature of Molly's power was a bit over the top. The clinical writing style mostly worked for me but it made it harder to understand the character in some ways too. How much of all that was biological imperative?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Blood, Death, Violence, Murder, Self harm, Death of parent, and Medical content
Moderate: Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Vomit, Excrement, Animal death, Child death, Sexual content, and Suicide
Minor: Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Infertility, and Pedophilia
_fallinglight_'s review
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Storygraph kept recommending this book to me and I gotta thank the algorithm that knows me better than I do bc I wouldn't have heard of this book otherwise and it would've been a real shame. It's right up my alley! Dark, gruesome, sad, and darkly funny. I read this in like 3 hours and idk maybe that's not fast for other folk but it's definitely fast for me who just spent almost two weeks on a reread lmao! There's a lot of deep stuff on death and birth and life and existence in this nonstop novella. It's perfect for anyone going through emo days and questioning the value or pointlessness of our existence and how never being is the better outcome. The majority of people might not agree on this but I dig it, honestly. Molly is so deliciously messed up! I love her, which makes the ending so sad for me. How can I not relate with a homeschooled only child who h words kids? 😂 Maybe that explains a lot about me...But anywho. I really liked the story and the concept if not why it happened (the mom's Soviet (?) secret agent spy mission something) if that makes sense. Also the writing is kinda cool but there were some weird situations and at points was kinda pretentious. But overall it was a mysterious, weirdly funny at points, dark read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Vomit, Self harm, Medical content, Grief, and Gore
Moderate: Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Sexual content, and Excrement
ianders's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This was a ride. What a delightfully bizarre concept this novella revolves around: every time the main character bleeds, a clone of herself is formed and it wants to murder her. And it works: I was thoroughly engrossed in the story throughout. There were some slower parts as Molly tries to navigate her life trying to bleed as less as possible, but her "condition" always catches up to her, leading to a lot of dread as we anticipate it, and bloody action once it happens.
I thought Molly herself was pretty interesting. She was raised in a sort of survivalist environment because she had no choice, and she grew up very isolated, lonely and on the fringe of society, barely able to interact with it until her teens. She changes a lot as she ages, going through various phases of anger or acceptance, which in turns changes the way clones act towards her (although the murderous intents remain). She remains detached from others, sometimes by choice but mostly not. Her life visibly exhausts her because it is barely her own at times.
This story felt like a rough coming of age story with the theme of how one's change through their life, and how they might have conflicted feelings towards those changes. We often oppose resistance to change, or we enter different stages of denial, clinging to the comfort of what we know and the illusion of being in control all the time. We are also under the pretense that we know ourselves well at any time. Then, there's also the influence other people have on us, especially as children. Molly's parents are the one teaching her to combat her clones because they don't want them to replace their daughter; they want her to remain the same. Now I don't know if that was the author's intent, but I think it works well as a metaphor. I think there's definitely something interesting in the very concept of choosing to kill yourself repeatedly.
The ending was a tad ambiguous: choices are made and something major happens, but we are left in the dark as to where all of it will lead. There's a sequel though, and I've yet to read it, but I hope it takes us even further down this weird, thrilling path.
I thought Molly herself was pretty interesting. She was raised in a sort of survivalist environment because she had no choice, and she grew up very isolated, lonely and on the fringe of society, barely able to interact with it until her teens. She changes a lot as she ages, going through various phases of anger or acceptance, which in turns changes the way clones act towards her (although the murderous intents remain). She remains detached from others, sometimes by choice but mostly not. Her life visibly exhausts her because it is barely her own at times.
This story felt like a rough coming of age story with the theme of how one's change through their life, and how they might have conflicted feelings towards those changes. We often oppose resistance to change, or we enter different stages of denial, clinging to the comfort of what we know and the illusion of being in control all the time. We are also under the pretense that we know ourselves well at any time. Then, there's also the influence other people have on us, especially as children. Molly's parents are the one teaching her to combat her clones because they don't want them to replace their daughter; they want her to remain the same. Now I don't know if that was the author's intent, but I think it works well as a metaphor. I think there's definitely something interesting in the very concept of choosing to kill yourself repeatedly.
The ending was a tad ambiguous: choices are made and something major happens, but we are left in the dark as to where all of it will lead. There's a sequel though, and I've yet to read it, but I hope it takes us even further down this weird, thrilling path.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Murder, and Suicide
Moderate: Body horror
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