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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
The Murders of Molly Southbourne is a tightly written, nasty (in all the good ways) unsettling novella.
As I’ve come to expect Thompson’s prose is bold and visual, he doesn’t waste words, but he also doesn’t mind pushing the graphic content up a few notches when it’s appropriate to the scene. The gorier moments often involve Molly bludgeoning to death her duplicates which makes it all the more disturbing. As for Molly, Thompson does a terrific job in portraying her as socially awkward but also forthright and competent. Personally, I’d be a gibbering mess if I knew one drop of my blood could create a homicidal facsimile of me, but Molly – after some adjustment as a child – takes it in her stride.
While the ending is a tad predictable, this is still a very satisfying novella that would make one hell of a feature film.
As I’ve come to expect Thompson’s prose is bold and visual, he doesn’t waste words, but he also doesn’t mind pushing the graphic content up a few notches when it’s appropriate to the scene. The gorier moments often involve Molly bludgeoning to death her duplicates which makes it all the more disturbing. As for Molly, Thompson does a terrific job in portraying her as socially awkward but also forthright and competent. Personally, I’d be a gibbering mess if I knew one drop of my blood could create a homicidal facsimile of me, but Molly – after some adjustment as a child – takes it in her stride.
While the ending is a tad predictable, this is still a very satisfying novella that would make one hell of a feature film.
Sort of confusing, but I enjoyed the twist at the end. I wish more detail about what exactly is going on with Molly could have been included, but since there's a sequel coming, maybe it answers those questions.
3.5 stars. A strange little girl grows up under strict rules, because every time she bleeds she spawns a copy of herself who eventually tries to kill her. This has a first person frame narrative with a decent function but a bland voice. But the central narrative, third person, cold and almost clinical in tone, high-concept brutal action in content, is a hell of a ride. It's grim sometimes to excess and wraps up too many elements too neatly in the fourth act, but it's aggressively strange, pushing the speculative elements just that extra bit further particularly re: what it means to "bleed," how limited or ineffectual are the rules. And the brutality is contrasted by slivers of broken intimacy between the protagonist and her doubles. Those indefinable, secret spaces and unanswered questions about personhood are almost but not quite overshadowed by the violence, and they're what make this work for me. It's not flawless, I don't love the sequel, but this is well worth the single-sitting read.
Started off great. Then just got weird. Not because of the gore, but Molly is just odd. The ending was fine, but left me with so many questions.
Wow, this novella hit my sweet spot with the concept alone and exceeded my expectations after I finished reading it.
It's about a girl named Molly. Every time Molly bleeds, she creates basically clones of herself. But these versions of her want to kill her so she must kill them first.
She grew up secluded on a farm, homeschooled, and with certain important "rules" she must follow because of her condition. Her parents teach her combat, weaponry, and survival skills so she can dispatch the other versions of herself when she bleeds. She's a killer but a necessary one.
This story follows Molly through college and into young adulthood and the terrifying situations she must endure with her other selves. This book is a shorter novella but it packs a full size punch and I highly recommend it.
It's about a girl named Molly. Every time Molly bleeds, she creates basically clones of herself. But these versions of her want to kill her so she must kill them first.
She grew up secluded on a farm, homeschooled, and with certain important "rules" she must follow because of her condition. Her parents teach her combat, weaponry, and survival skills so she can dispatch the other versions of herself when she bleeds. She's a killer but a necessary one.
This story follows Molly through college and into young adulthood and the terrifying situations she must endure with her other selves. This book is a shorter novella but it packs a full size punch and I highly recommend it.
I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about this story, but it was a genius premise and interestingly developed.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
I really hope there is a full novel after this because if not...that ending... ugh