A review by thmei
Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom: A Story by Sylvia Plath

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I liked many things about this and, though it’s obviously an early work, I’m quite impressed that Plath wrote this at the age she did. I’m still unsure if Plath’s style is for me, though. It’s the perfect style for her cold, lonely, surreal portrayal of the world… but I so don’t want to read it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide

The finale is Mary escaping the train (ie life) before she should be allowed to, aka committing suicide. As you would expect from a book about suicide written by a suicidal person, it is not portrayed sensitively and it is in fact encouraged that we should all endeavor to do the same. It’s just a metaphor, not graphically described at all, but it’s a pretty easy implication to understand. While an interesting look into Plath’s head and the depth of Mary’s character, I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone who experiences suicidal thoughts.