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A review by justagirlwithabook
Mary: An Awakening of Terror by Nat Cassidy
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Mary is a middle-aged pre-menopausal woman living in New York, all alone (with the exception of her Loved Ones) and with a simple bookstore job to keep her occupied. Strange things start happening: women’s faces, if she looks too long, start to decompose in front of her eyes and even her own reflection gives her a fright; she often wakes up having a hard time recalling what happened before she lost consciousness; and she’s easily irritated and angered by the smallest of offenses, enough to lash out.
When her Aunt Nadine calls (a blast from the past) and asks Mary to come take care of her through her sickness, Mary reluctantly agrees. Upon arrival to her hometown, she discovers her own memory is spotty and unreliable. She starts seeing ghosts of women who were murdered decades ago by a serial killer, and as she starts digging for answers, starts to realize that she herself might be a larger piece to the puzzle.
What I Loved:
- Firstly, the cover is fantastic. It fits the storyline but really drew me in, honestly. How can you not be curious about this book after seeing that cover?
- I really appreciated the author’s note with heads up on content (mutilation, animal death, implied sexual trauma, misogyny). I think all books should provide this.
- This theme of “here’s a woman feeling like something is wrong but is gaslighted everywhere and by every single man” was prevalent (for instance, she makes a trip to the doctor and explains what she’s experiencing, she knows her body better than anyone else and is attuned to it, yet the young male doctor hardly listens and talks down to her). Most women, regardless of age, have experienced this at some point or another and that resonated.
- The main character, Mary, is in her late 40s, about to turn 50 — middle age and all the comes along with it is discussed more frequently but it was refreshing to read a story with a protagonist dealing with life and an age range not often discussed in books. Rarely do we read about older women, and when we do, especially in horror novels, it often seems to be entirely at their expense.
- There was a point where the storyline turned a bit “culty” and I enjoyed that (anything remotely cultish has my attention!).
- There were parts mostly at the beginning and at the end where there was a switch in the form of writing to not just the usual chapters but to interviews, newspaper articles, and so forth. I enjoyed that aspect and just wish that it had been more consistently sprinkled throughout the novel.
What I Didn’t Love:
- While the author did give a heads up that there would be a scene of mutilation at some point in the story, I didn’t find it any less disturbing and did wonder whether or not it was entirely necessary.
- As mentioned before, I wish the other styles of writing had been sprinkled more evenly throughout the novel, incorporating interviews, newspaper articles, etc. a bit more consistently and at pivotal plot points.
- I felt like I kept reading with the hopes that something big would happen or that something “more” would come into the picture (more dread, more something), and I don’t know that I really ever hit a part that gave me that satisfaction. It was an overall good story and had plenty of elements of horror (lots of scenes that were a little disturbing and so forth) but it all felt like it was leading up to something and when we got to that “something,” it wasn’t as earth shattering as I was hoping for and instead I felt like we just kind of coasted through the end.
- The end left me rolling my eyes a little bit, as it turned into a bit of a “here’s the moral of the story” soapbox. (Surprisingly this is the second horror novel I’ve read in a row with an ending like that, and that was disappointing.)
Overall:
I enjoyed the storyline, the main character and her struggles through middle-aged womanhood (but also struggles that many women can relate to a decade on either side of 50), and some of the more supernatural aspects of this horror novel (though some of these elements did not end up as eerie as I had hoped - maybe for the supernatural reason being a simple explanation for why things were happening which ultimately didn’t add a lot of tension or dread). Squeamish scenes were well-written with plenty of imagery that played out like a movie in my head. The cultish aspects that came into play were also a great addition and wouldn’t have been the same without them. I could’ve done without the “moral of the story” soapbox at the end; I’d rather be trusted as a reader to get out of it what I will, and if I miss some of the lesson meant for the reader, that should just be my own loss. Ultimately, this is one of those that you either purchase with the idea that you’re very certain you’ll enjoy it, or it’ll be one that, after reading the blurb and a few reviews, you feel a bit on the fence about and wait until you can borrow it from a friend or a local library.
I received an advance reader copy from Macmillan-Tor/Forge & Tor Nightfire via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
When her Aunt Nadine calls (a blast from the past) and asks Mary to come take care of her through her sickness, Mary reluctantly agrees. Upon arrival to her hometown, she discovers her own memory is spotty and unreliable. She starts seeing ghosts of women who were murdered decades ago by a serial killer, and as she starts digging for answers, starts to realize that she herself might be a larger piece to the puzzle.
What I Loved:
- Firstly, the cover is fantastic. It fits the storyline but really drew me in, honestly. How can you not be curious about this book after seeing that cover?
- I really appreciated the author’s note with heads up on content (mutilation, animal death, implied sexual trauma, misogyny). I think all books should provide this.
- This theme of “here’s a woman feeling like something is wrong but is gaslighted everywhere and by every single man” was prevalent (for instance, she makes a trip to the doctor and explains what she’s experiencing, she knows her body better than anyone else and is attuned to it, yet the young male doctor hardly listens and talks down to her). Most women, regardless of age, have experienced this at some point or another and that resonated.
- The main character, Mary, is in her late 40s, about to turn 50 — middle age and all the comes along with it is discussed more frequently but it was refreshing to read a story with a protagonist dealing with life and an age range not often discussed in books. Rarely do we read about older women, and when we do, especially in horror novels, it often seems to be entirely at their expense.
- There was a point where the storyline turned a bit “culty” and I enjoyed that (anything remotely cultish has my attention!).
- There were parts mostly at the beginning and at the end where there was a switch in the form of writing to not just the usual chapters but to interviews, newspaper articles, and so forth. I enjoyed that aspect and just wish that it had been more consistently sprinkled throughout the novel.
What I Didn’t Love:
- While the author did give a heads up that there would be a scene of mutilation at some point in the story, I didn’t find it any less disturbing and did wonder whether or not it was entirely necessary.
- As mentioned before, I wish the other styles of writing had been sprinkled more evenly throughout the novel, incorporating interviews, newspaper articles, etc. a bit more consistently and at pivotal plot points.
- I felt like I kept reading with the hopes that something big would happen or that something “more” would come into the picture (more dread, more something), and I don’t know that I really ever hit a part that gave me that satisfaction. It was an overall good story and had plenty of elements of horror (lots of scenes that were a little disturbing and so forth) but it all felt like it was leading up to something and when we got to that “something,” it wasn’t as earth shattering as I was hoping for and instead I felt like we just kind of coasted through the end.
- The end left me rolling my eyes a little bit, as it turned into a bit of a “here’s the moral of the story” soapbox. (Surprisingly this is the second horror novel I’ve read in a row with an ending like that, and that was disappointing.)
Overall:
I enjoyed the storyline, the main character and her struggles through middle-aged womanhood (but also struggles that many women can relate to a decade on either side of 50), and some of the more supernatural aspects of this horror novel (though some of these elements did not end up as eerie as I had hoped - maybe for the supernatural reason being a simple explanation for why things were happening which ultimately didn’t add a lot of tension or dread). Squeamish scenes were well-written with plenty of imagery that played out like a movie in my head. The cultish aspects that came into play were also a great addition and wouldn’t have been the same without them. I could’ve done without the “moral of the story” soapbox at the end; I’d rather be trusted as a reader to get out of it what I will, and if I miss some of the lesson meant for the reader, that should just be my own loss. Ultimately, this is one of those that you either purchase with the idea that you’re very certain you’ll enjoy it, or it’ll be one that, after reading the blurb and a few reviews, you feel a bit on the fence about and wait until you can borrow it from a friend or a local library.
I received an advance reader copy from Macmillan-Tor/Forge & Tor Nightfire via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.