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Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Child death, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Death of parent
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Rape, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Gore, Torture, Blood, Religious bigotry
Minor: Confinement, Fire/Fire injury
Graphic: Violence, Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide
A large part of the disconcerting, eerie nature of the book is the ubiquity of cruelty and violence. Beatings, mutilation, and deprivation are mentioned as casually as what the sisters are eating at their meager tables.
I think a major issue about this book is that readers are going to compare this to Tender is the Flesh, which isn’t a 1:1 comparison. While the book is brutal, violent, and oppressively fatalistic, it isn’t necessarily gross and as shocking as Tender is the Flesh. The ending isn’t as shocking as that in the other story, but it’s a good ending to this story. The ‘twist’ is somewhat predictable, but the ending focuses less on the horror element of the book but of the redemption arc or the narrator.
This book is arguably about people who have been so defeated and resigned to a terrible fate. It’s a story about desensitization and complacency. But the introduction of Circe and Lucìa reinvigorates a sense of purpose. It’s a story about giving up but also a story about finding small finger holds of light.
For me the book did have a weird cadence to its pacing, but it was a pretty solid read. It’s also easy enough to knock out in a few hours.
4/5 stars.
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Physical abuse
Moderate: Rape
Moderate: Animal death
Moderate: Animal death, Sexual assault