forever_undone_fables 's review for:

Grey Dog by Elliott Gish

3.0

dark emotional slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Loveable characters: No

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The first 50% of this is slow. Filled with unrequited, and oppressed sapphic longing, it reads like a historical fiction. You get to know Ada as a school teacher on her last/second chance after relocating after an incident in her former town. 

The writing style is done in that like you are reading her diary. As the “grey dog” that whispers in her ear and leaves her odious hallucinations begins to sink its teeth into her, she begins to turn into the beast she knew herself to be. 

At around 60% the horror elements go beyond a measly trail of breadcrumbs, into something surreal and unhinged. Ada’s anger is valid, her unraveling justified, her vengeance misplaced. She suffered abuse and loss in a time period where she could not be herself- but the direction which she took her retribution was mostly undeserving. 

This is because as Ada began to unravel, she was only taking her anger out on women, even children, with no remorse. (SPOILER/TRIGGER WARNING) {Going as far as to assault a woman. I understand cannibalism as a metaphor for love is hot right now, and I’m here for it, however it was not consensual, and she really didn’t have to do it like that. She experienced abuse, and became an abuser.}

This book shows you that “feminine rage can take many forms, and is not always inherently feminist. Grey Dog is the story about an oppressed, distressed woman’s sexual repression and internalized misogyny. She is delusional, unhinged, disgusting, and both her thoughts and actions make her a horrible person. 

However, for those very same reasons, it still represents itself well as a horror novel, even though some of my expectations where unsatisfied and the pace was somewhat lacking.

TLDR/Final Thoughts:

-The FMC is a femcel.

-Men in this story cause harm, but those men don’t suffer in return, and that’s personally what I want from my feminine rage