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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
I have no other word to describe this other than”weird”.
Huge TW for self harm and violent death.
Wasn’t a fan unfortunately.
Huge TW for self harm and violent death.
Wasn’t a fan unfortunately.
dark
tense
medium-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
Trigger warning: Self harm
The Murders of Molly Southbourne is a story that works perfectly for its novella length.
Whenever Molly bleeds, a copy of herself is created. The Mollies may be friendly at first, but within a few days, they’ll inevitably turn vicious and try to kill the original. On the isolated farm where Molly lives with her parents, they’ve been preparing her for a life of constant danger. If she wants to live, she’ll have to spend her whole life killing girls who look just like her.
As you might expect from this sort of childhood, Molly is a bit unusual. She’s cold and detached, which I suppose she has to be to survive. Her unusual circumstances have basically forced her to become a serial killer starting from a really young age. She was a hard character to connect with, part of why I found The Murders of Molly Southbourne intellectually interesting but not emotionally engaging.
The explanation of why this is happening to Molly is pretty vague. The Murders of Molly Southbourne takes place in a near future where human fertility has fallen to levels making the survival of the species precarious. This may tie into Molly’s special biology, but it’s left as a loose background sketch. The focus of the novella is on the story of Molly’s life.
While I don’t know if this sci-fi horror novella lived up to my high expectations, I did enjoy reading it. If Tade Thompson is ever to publish a sequel novella (and I hear one’s in the works!), then I’ll be sure to pick it up.
Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
The Murders of Molly Southbourne is a story that works perfectly for its novella length.
Whenever Molly bleeds, a copy of herself is created. The Mollies may be friendly at first, but within a few days, they’ll inevitably turn vicious and try to kill the original. On the isolated farm where Molly lives with her parents, they’ve been preparing her for a life of constant danger. If she wants to live, she’ll have to spend her whole life killing girls who look just like her.
As you might expect from this sort of childhood, Molly is a bit unusual. She’s cold and detached, which I suppose she has to be to survive. Her unusual circumstances have basically forced her to become a serial killer starting from a really young age. She was a hard character to connect with, part of why I found The Murders of Molly Southbourne intellectually interesting but not emotionally engaging.
The explanation of why this is happening to Molly is pretty vague. The Murders of Molly Southbourne takes place in a near future where human fertility has fallen to levels making the survival of the species precarious. This may tie into Molly’s special biology, but it’s left as a loose background sketch. The focus of the novella is on the story of Molly’s life.
While I don’t know if this sci-fi horror novella lived up to my high expectations, I did enjoy reading it. If Tade Thompson is ever to publish a sequel novella (and I hear one’s in the works!), then I’ll be sure to pick it up.
Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
this was just a FUN time. i wanna say 4.5 rounded down but the ending kind of ruined it for me. so maybe 4.25. despite the length i really liked the characters and found myself getting emotionals at certain moments. i was also shocked or intrigued throughout the story.
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
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, Body horror, Gore, Self harm, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Excrement, Death of parent
This was not at all what I expected it to be in the best possible way. Reading the description I expected something silly and fun, but it ended up being much darker and more serious than I could have anticipated. It's very successful with it's high concept for such a short novella, also. Color me very impressed. The only thing I found truly bothersome about it was that sometimes the author used the wring words for things. I'm not sure if English is not his first language, and I don't think this was translated, but on occasion he called something by a word that I, at least, had never heard used for that specific thing (i.e. calling a toad-stool a turd-stool). It was a bit confusing when I ran across it, but not enough so to pull me out of the story. All in all I really enjoyed this novella and am curious to check out some of this authors other work. Very glad I didn't let the silliness of the description put me off from reading it.
This was almost too short to even be a novella but it is probably the best thriller that I've ever read. It's such an absurd premise and so full of violence or, rather, the implication of violence that I really didn't expect something that gripping and thoughtful. I was just hoping it was clever and it certainly was.