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squid_vicious 's review for:
Reluctant Immortals
by Gwendolyn Kiste
Well, this was weird. Not in a bad way; it’s actually really nice when an author writes something that makes me go “what the hell”, because I wish it happened more often. I didn’t really have expectations when I picked it up, it just seemed like an interesting mashup of classic characters – though comparing it to “Mexican Gothic” is very inaccurate.
Due to their respective run-ins with Dracula and Mr. Rochester, Lucy Westerna and Bertha Mason have been made immortals. But immortality is not the never-ending party one might imagine it to be. In fact, the two women are more or less constantly on the run from their past, and have to work really hard to keep that past from contaminating their present. I don’t want to give too much away, but obviously, something happens that breaks the delicate balance of their lives, and the monsters who made them will soon be hot on their heels and have to be put away, for good this time.
Kiste chose to explore some very relevant themes through this strange speculative exercise, and this book is not a horror novel proper, but rather an exploration of feminine trauma and the difficulties of living with said trauma. That makes it a very unique and interesting work. My 3-star rating is much more about wishing for richer prose, denser atmosphere and a less repetitive pattern of hunter-becomes-the-hunted. It is meant to be set in 1960s Hollywood, but I had a hard time really feeling that setting (or San Francisco, when they end up going over there), beyond descriptions of clothing and houses. I loved the idea that drove the story, but I wanted to be able to lose myself in it a bit more.
Worth checking out, and I will keep an eye out for what Kiste comes up with next! She is clearly very talented, this book is just a tad unfocused.
Due to their respective run-ins with Dracula and Mr. Rochester, Lucy Westerna and Bertha Mason have been made immortals. But immortality is not the never-ending party one might imagine it to be. In fact, the two women are more or less constantly on the run from their past, and have to work really hard to keep that past from contaminating their present. I don’t want to give too much away, but obviously, something happens that breaks the delicate balance of their lives, and the monsters who made them will soon be hot on their heels and have to be put away, for good this time.
Kiste chose to explore some very relevant themes through this strange speculative exercise, and this book is not a horror novel proper, but rather an exploration of feminine trauma and the difficulties of living with said trauma. That makes it a very unique and interesting work. My 3-star rating is much more about wishing for richer prose, denser atmosphere and a less repetitive pattern of hunter-becomes-the-hunted. It is meant to be set in 1960s Hollywood, but I had a hard time really feeling that setting (or San Francisco, when they end up going over there), beyond descriptions of clothing and houses. I loved the idea that drove the story, but I wanted to be able to lose myself in it a bit more.
Worth checking out, and I will keep an eye out for what Kiste comes up with next! She is clearly very talented, this book is just a tad unfocused.