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A review by lesbianclerics
Walk the Vanished Earth by Erin Swan
Did not finish book. Stopped at 22%.
This book really made me ask myself questions and think. Questions like, "where do we draw the line between dark content and torture porn?" And "At what point is a book so feminist it wraps back around to misogynistic?"
Erin Swan has somehow managed to pass both those points. The first few chapters had me hooked. I was rambling excitedly to my mom about how much i enjoyed the writing style, and I'm generally a fan of books which jump back and forth in time.
Then the uncles got weird about Moon. Then I realized Bea was 12, not 17ish like I had assumed. The final nail in the coffin was Paul's first chapter. I realized that the only thing I cared about at this point was Bea's time in the hospital and her recovery. I read Paul's chapter, barely, but it was so boring i mostly skimmed it and the one-paragraph description about how the doctor basically just gave up on Bea. I decided to follow suit and gave up on the book. Unfortunate, because i really did like the writing style.
Then the uncles got weird about Moon. Then I realized Bea was 12, not 17ish like I had assumed. The final nail in the coffin was Paul's first chapter. I realized that the only thing I cared about at this point was Bea's time in the hospital and her recovery. I read Paul's chapter, barely, but it was so boring i mostly skimmed it and the one-paragraph description about how the doctor basically just gave up on Bea. I decided to follow suit and gave up on the book. Unfortunate, because i really did like the writing style.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Drug use
Moderate: Incest, Kidnapping, Medical content, Rape, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, and Death of parent
Minor: War, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
Most of the things in the moderate list barely slipped out of graphic just because it is described in metaphor and HEAVILY insinuated rather than explicitly described. It is very obvious though, and this is just what i got to in the first 115 pages.