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A review by laurel00
Graveyard of Lost Children by Katrina Monroe
dark
emotional
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
You know when you finish a book, and it dawns on you that you've just had the privilege of experiencing absolute genius? Or when a book makes you remember all over again why you love a specific genre? Monroe did all of that and more with this true gem of horror and literature.
This novel in particular was personally horrifying to me. I am terrified of the very concept of motherhood, and I never want to experience it myself, as just the thought of being pregnant or having to raise a child sends a shiver down my spine. So this book was essentially my biggest fears staring back at me through the pages. And usually I would think that this kind of story is so far removed from my existence that it wouldn't actually affect me that much. However, having a queer woman take on that bone chilling role of motherhood and seeing from the beginning how terrified she was of being a mother, made her extremely relatable to me and I found it impossible to remove myself from the narrative. I felt so deeply connected to her and it made the entire reading experience so incredibly potent.
Of course, as I do with every horror novel, I read this in the pitch darkness of my bedroom, with nothing but one creepy candle by my bedside and my chilling horror album to keep my company. And I have genuinely been haunted for the past couple of weeks. I see the monster from this story in the corner of my eye and in every dark shadowy space. My brain makes up jump scares that take me by surprise on random brightly lit weekday afternoons. For most I would assume that this would not be a positive thing, but I have had such a fun and exciting experience with this. And the only reason it took me so long to get through it is that it was quite emotionally draining, and I needed to take my time to understand the depth of every message Monroe communicates to the reader.
Monroe also makes a genius literary choice by having Olivia's chapters, the young mother, be written in third person POV and Shannon's, the older mother, in first person POV. It so completely skewed with your perception of who was losing their sanity, who could be trusted, who was lying, and who was seeing the truth. It was so effective and it was only when I was discussing the book with a friend that I even realized that there was a POV switch, and just how incredible of a move it was.
The whole book is an amazing allegory for the complexities of motherhood: the way others treat you, the way you start to treat yourself, the doubt, the fear, the unwavering and unconditional love you have for your child and how that very love is the most terrifying thing a human can experience. I really do not have a better word for this novel other than simply genius.
I cannot recommend it enough and I will be thinking about this book, probably forever. It's going straight to the top of my horror recommendation list and I will scream about it until I have run out of breath.
Source: NetGalley
This novel in particular was personally horrifying to me. I am terrified of the very concept of motherhood, and I never want to experience it myself, as just the thought of being pregnant or having to raise a child sends a shiver down my spine. So this book was essentially my biggest fears staring back at me through the pages. And usually I would think that this kind of story is so far removed from my existence that it wouldn't actually affect me that much. However, having a queer woman take on that bone chilling role of motherhood and seeing from the beginning how terrified she was of being a mother, made her extremely relatable to me and I found it impossible to remove myself from the narrative. I felt so deeply connected to her and it made the entire reading experience so incredibly potent.
Of course, as I do with every horror novel, I read this in the pitch darkness of my bedroom, with nothing but one creepy candle by my bedside and my chilling horror album to keep my company. And I have genuinely been haunted for the past couple of weeks. I see the monster from this story in the corner of my eye and in every dark shadowy space. My brain makes up jump scares that take me by surprise on random brightly lit weekday afternoons. For most I would assume that this would not be a positive thing, but I have had such a fun and exciting experience with this. And the only reason it took me so long to get through it is that it was quite emotionally draining, and I needed to take my time to understand the depth of every message Monroe communicates to the reader.
Monroe also makes a genius literary choice by having Olivia's chapters, the young mother, be written in third person POV and Shannon's, the older mother, in first person POV. It so completely skewed with your perception of who was losing their sanity, who could be trusted, who was lying, and who was seeing the truth. It was so effective and it was only when I was discussing the book with a friend that I even realized that there was a POV switch, and just how incredible of a move it was.
The whole book is an amazing allegory for the complexities of motherhood: the way others treat you, the way you start to treat yourself, the doubt, the fear, the unwavering and unconditional love you have for your child and how that very love is the most terrifying thing a human can experience. I really do not have a better word for this novel other than simply genius.
I cannot recommend it enough and I will be thinking about this book, probably forever. It's going straight to the top of my horror recommendation list and I will scream about it until I have run out of breath.
Source: NetGalley