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brennanlafaro 's review for:
The Rust Maidens
by Gwendolyn Kiste
I had the pleasure of reading Pretty Marys All in a Row back in November, and I couldn’t get enough of Gwendolyn Kiste’s unique brand of prose. I’m not sure how else to describe the way she writes other than beauty incarnate.
In The Rust Maidens, Kiste could be describing a Cleveland neighborhood or setting down intimate details about a childhood friendship, and she puts the same amount of care into every phrasing, every paragraph. Phoebe, our main character, is so excellently fleshed out and laid bare before us, we can’t help but follow everything that she experiences with eager anticipation.
The story contained within has notes of isolation and a truly original premise. It does a wonderful job of switching back and forth between Phoebe as a teenager and Phoebe as an adult. Where so many books haphazardly throw the reader back and forth between past and present, Kiste accomplishes this with grace.
When all was said and done, I had goosebumps and found myself feeling melancholy, but also happy and fulfilled. This was a story experienced rather than just a story read.
In The Rust Maidens, Kiste could be describing a Cleveland neighborhood or setting down intimate details about a childhood friendship, and she puts the same amount of care into every phrasing, every paragraph. Phoebe, our main character, is so excellently fleshed out and laid bare before us, we can’t help but follow everything that she experiences with eager anticipation.
The story contained within has notes of isolation and a truly original premise. It does a wonderful job of switching back and forth between Phoebe as a teenager and Phoebe as an adult. Where so many books haphazardly throw the reader back and forth between past and present, Kiste accomplishes this with grace.
When all was said and done, I had goosebumps and found myself feeling melancholy, but also happy and fulfilled. This was a story experienced rather than just a story read.