Reviews - Bajo la superficie

910 reviews for:

Johnson's first story collection is populated by characters and settings that owe a big deal to magic realism, but they are more than anything an excuse -Johnson's excuse- to talk about issues such as domestic violence, abuse, identity, gender.

And now she goes and publishes this wonderful monster, this beautiful reinterpretation of Sophocle's Oedipus Rex only here the clairvoyant who brings the prophecy is a transgender woman, the hunter is a young woman who works as a lexicographer as a way to find her place in language, and the kid who tries to escape his fate -only to find it later- is someone unable to express his truth, until it's too late. In Johnson's appropriation of this tale, the king has a boat and the queen is a demential being who loses and gets lost.

This is a novel that hides one too many monsters. This is a novel about finding and losing your family while losing and finding yourself. It is about how society pushes you constantly to the verge of a canal you are afraid to cross.

blueeyedvt's review against another edition

3.0

This book was bizarre for me to read. Certainly depths to it for analysis and unpacking dynamics of family, gender fluidity, and parenting. Kept reading because I wanted to figure out what the heck was it coming to, but it left me just saying "Huh?"

tansybradshaw's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 9%

I just think it wasn't the right time for me to encounter this book. The mother/daughter themes are triggering.

timstolp's review against another edition

3.75

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

readingcities's review against another edition

4.0

Perfect perfect perfect book for early autumn English river obsession with shades of menace and mythology.

jblanarik's review against another edition

3.0

More like a 3.5/close 4. I can really appreciate the beauty of this book. The writing read poetically and was entrancing. A wonderful modernization of Oedipus, that makes you feel uncomfortable and uneasy. However, there were many parts I couldn’t figure out what was happening, or that I felt were unnecessary flouncy in their verbiage. I usually read a book in about 2-4 days and this took me about a month, because I wasn’t invested in most of the characters and wasn’t hard pressed to find out what was going to unfold. I didn’t hate it, but at the end of this year I don’t think I will remember much of it when I look back on all the tales I’ve read.

speakup_jjenn's review against another edition

3.0

NOTES TO MYSELF: i started reading this engl 462: traditions and trends in horror fall 2024. SO far I'm on page 176 and it's quite interesting because it's a retelling of the oedipus myth which I find really fascinating especially because the oedipus-inspired character is genderfluid or trans. but they're born as a girl and then transition to a man and a big themes involves water and a river. and then there's gretel which i'm not sure what role she'll play but it's been a fun read. almost done. I finished it on 09/23/24 around 13:20 at the tlc second 1st floor tables (not ground floor) by room 140-something. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, although I don't think that I would have picked this up on my own and if I had I'm not sure if I would have finished it. But it's kind of a sad story, because margot/marcus after having figured out that he slept with his mother sarah he either dies in the river or disappears in the river never to be seen again by either gretel or sarah. Sarah dies by suicide because she wants to forget what she's done and the role she played so in the end gretel is left alone with all this. Charlie was Margot/Marcus' dad that she/he did end up killing which is also sad because charlie called him son, unlike anyone else because at that point he hadn't fully transitioned into marcus (internally) but did present in a feminine way. There wasn't too much horror and nothing really scared me about the novel or its aspects but it was still an interesting read and an intriguing retelling of the oedipus myth.

gingerrrrsnaps's review against another edition

3.0

I really don’t know how I feel about this book, my rating wavers between 3 and 4 stars. The writing was FANTASTIC, the emotions were disturbing, the plot was arguably insane, and overall I’m certainly going to be thinking about this book for a while. Sort of giving Ptolemaea by Ethel Cain energy.