Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by alexawkelly
My Throat an Open Grave by Tori Bovalino
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Page Street Kids for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I was super, super hyped about this book, based on both the fact that I'm becoming quite a fan of Tori Bovalino—Not Good for Maidens was unlike anything I'd read before in YA, and her contribution to the YA folk horror collection The Gathering Dark was quite excellent as well—and the fact that the premise sounded super, super intriguing. Right off the bat, though, I can tell you that this book has actually very little in common with the film it's being compared to, Labyrinth, apart from the basic premise of a teenage girl whose baby brother is stolen by an otherworldly being, and who must then go on a journey into the unknown to retrieve him. If you go into this book expecting a Labyrinth-esque adventure to follow, but with more horror (just look at that cover), I have to tell you that this is not that. And part of me was disappointed in that fact, at first. But what this book is ended up being so great that the comparison to Labyrinth became disappointing for a different reason: I don't think it does the book justice at all. I also don't know that I'd personally classify it as horror; there's plenty of scary, ghostly business afoot, but to me it seems like more of a dark fairy tale or a fantasy with some darker elements than a horror.
This is a dark, fantastical parable about, much to my surprise, reproductive justice, set in a community where girls' choices are taken from them and then that lack of choice used as ammunition to punish them further. The beginning of the book did a great job amping up the elements of folk horror—the community is small, poor, and fiercely religious, but it's also bordering a deep, dark wood where it's said a man (or devil), known as the Lord of the Wood, rules. This is a very satisfyingly spooky setup, but from there, I felt the scares were minimal. I also felt that the book suffered at times from a lag in action in the middle, and some confusing world building (we're told that the Lord of the Wood isn't human, but we're never given a satisfying explanation of what he is) that made it difficult to stay interested for a chunk in the middle of the book. When the plot really gets going again, though—when it all starts coming together, and we see our main character, Leah, begin to reclaim some of her power—I couldn't put it down. I was very deeply moved by the story, and by all that it represents of our world today. I also found the "twist", if you can call it that, to be fantastic, and just the right amount of unexpected. Others may have found it more obvious than I did, but I didn't really start to pick up on hints until halfway through.
I'm thrilled that this book exists, for so many reasons that I don't want to spoil. I look forward to reading more of Tori Bovalino in the future.
I was super, super hyped about this book, based on both the fact that I'm becoming quite a fan of Tori Bovalino—Not Good for Maidens was unlike anything I'd read before in YA, and her contribution to the YA folk horror collection The Gathering Dark was quite excellent as well—and the fact that the premise sounded super, super intriguing. Right off the bat, though, I can tell you that this book has actually very little in common with the film it's being compared to, Labyrinth, apart from the basic premise of a teenage girl whose baby brother is stolen by an otherworldly being, and who must then go on a journey into the unknown to retrieve him. If you go into this book expecting a Labyrinth-esque adventure to follow, but with more horror (just look at that cover), I have to tell you that this is not that. And part of me was disappointed in that fact, at first. But what this book is ended up being so great that the comparison to Labyrinth became disappointing for a different reason: I don't think it does the book justice at all. I also don't know that I'd personally classify it as horror; there's plenty of scary, ghostly business afoot, but to me it seems like more of a dark fairy tale or a fantasy with some darker elements than a horror.
This is a dark, fantastical parable about, much to my surprise, reproductive justice, set in a community where girls' choices are taken from them and then that lack of choice used as ammunition to punish them further. The beginning of the book did a great job amping up the elements of folk horror—the community is small, poor, and fiercely religious, but it's also bordering a deep, dark wood where it's said a man (or devil), known as the Lord of the Wood, rules. This is a very satisfyingly spooky setup, but from there, I felt the scares were minimal. I also felt that the book suffered at times from a lag in action in the middle, and some confusing world building (we're told that the Lord of the Wood isn't human, but we're never given a satisfying explanation of what he is) that made it difficult to stay interested for a chunk in the middle of the book. When the plot really gets going again, though—when it all starts coming together, and we see our main character, Leah, begin to reclaim some of her power—I couldn't put it down. I was very deeply moved by the story, and by all that it represents of our world today. I also found the "twist", if you can call it that, to be fantastic, and just the right amount of unexpected. Others may have found it more obvious than I did, but I didn't really start to pick up on hints until halfway through.
I'm thrilled that this book exists, for so many reasons that I don't want to spoil. I look forward to reading more of Tori Bovalino in the future.