You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
To be fair to Thompson, I had no idea what I was getting myself into with this book. I bought it because I love the Rosewater books, and other people have been saying good things about it.
The opening chapter of this book makes no sense on first read. However, near to the end of the book something became horribly clear, and I had to go back and reread that chapter. Given that it is the framing narrative of the whole story, it shouldn't have worked. And yet. I recommend people read the book before reading any reviews.
Although novella/novelette length, this is a lush and convoluted story with so much detailed world-building and characterisation leaked to the reader a droplet at a time. As a horror story, it works on multiple fascinating levels. The surface level body horror is flagged in the blurb on the back of the book. Some of that can be quite visceral.
But in the background is a barely recognised societal and environmental collapse happening. The little bits of that the creep in are sadly entirely credible as the way that life is going.
The opening chapter of this book makes no sense on first read. However, near to the end of the book something became horribly clear, and I had to go back and reread that chapter. Given that it is the framing narrative of the whole story, it shouldn't have worked. And yet. I recommend people read the book before reading any reviews.
Although novella/novelette length, this is a lush and convoluted story with so much detailed world-building and characterisation leaked to the reader a droplet at a time. As a horror story, it works on multiple fascinating levels. The surface level body horror is flagged in the blurb on the back of the book. Some of that can be quite visceral.
But in the background is a barely recognised societal and environmental collapse happening. The little bits of that the creep in are sadly entirely credible as the way that life is going.
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Weird. Disturbing. Creepy. Off-putting. Slightly disgusting in parts. It‘s like a train wreck—pretty horrible, but I couldn‘t look away. This novella made me feel uncomfortable. I am still trying to put my fingers on the reason why. The blood? The constant murders? The horribleness of the mollys? Strangely enough, I am tempted to read the sequel.
If you read the blurb, you already know that every time Molly bleeds, a „molly“ is created. And the mollys are always off somehow, eventually intent on killing her. So she kills them first. Around that concept the story of her life to a certain point is told. How she grew up and learned about the mollys, how her parents taught her to deal with them, her road to understanding about herself and the mollys and why some of them seem to be different than others...
I didn‘t like Molly. She was too dispassionate for my taste. But I guess with her history that was to be expected. It‘s tragic and whatever passion and positive emotions she experienced lead to revelations that would be spoilers. I really liked her parents, though. Especially her mother.
The writing is very good. I was totally immersed in the story, the characters and Molly‘s world. I am looking forward now to another offering lingering on my TBR shelf: [b:Rosewater|38362809|Rosewater (The Wormwood Trilogy, #1)|Tade Thompson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1534300082l/38362809._SX50_.jpg|51884865] (same author, different world, not related to Molly, won the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the Nommo Award and was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award).
This read is part of my attempt to clear my TBR pile of owned books and my #ReadBIPOC2021 challenge (entry for June).
If you read the blurb, you already know that every time Molly bleeds, a „molly“ is created. And the mollys are always off somehow, eventually intent on killing her. So she kills them first. Around that concept the story of her life to a certain point is told. How she grew up and learned about the mollys, how her parents taught her to deal with them, her road to understanding about herself and the mollys and why some of them seem to be different than others...
I didn‘t like Molly. She was too dispassionate for my taste. But I guess with her history that was to be expected. It‘s tragic and whatever passion and positive emotions she experienced lead to revelations that would be spoilers. I really liked her parents, though. Especially her mother.
The writing is very good. I was totally immersed in the story, the characters and Molly‘s world. I am looking forward now to another offering lingering on my TBR shelf: [b:Rosewater|38362809|Rosewater (The Wormwood Trilogy, #1)|Tade Thompson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1534300082l/38362809._SX50_.jpg|51884865] (same author, different world, not related to Molly, won the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the Nommo Award and was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award).
This read is part of my attempt to clear my TBR pile of owned books and my #ReadBIPOC2021 challenge (entry for June).
dark
mysterious
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This novella was so weird. I enjoyed reading something that was different from most things I read, but sometimes the violence and gore were a bit much for me and I had to read something else. I really enjoy stories that are told in the story as a story to a different character because the framing makes the use of the first person seem more natural. I would recommend this novella to people that want to get into horror because the short length is much more approachable than reading a whole novel.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes