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A review by lauriereadslohf
Comfort Me with Apples by Catherynne M. Valente
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
3.0
Comfort Me With Apples had me feeling confused and off-kilter and I love that feeling! It ultimately went to a place that I guessed early on (having read someone else’s review with a little reference to something that flicked a switch right away) and when I finished all I felt was sad and a bit ragey at all the spoiled, entitled, selfish menfolk residing in this world. It’s fiction, yeah, but it also hits a nerve and I suppose that was the point of the story so it’s successful but I can’t say it was an experience I want to repeat any time soon. Days later I’m still feeling too grrrrr about it all!
I’m not saying much because saying anything about the reveal, even vaguely, can give it away. Sophia is a happy housewife, living in a gorgeous gated community, in her giant beautiful house and she has a group of eclectic neighbor friends. She loves her husband even though she never sees him because he’s so busy working - or something. “I was made for him” is her mantra and their life is perfect.
Until it isn’t.
She can abide by all of the HOA rules which get increasingly weirder as the book goes along but when she starts snooping where she shouldn’t snoop, as one will (I mean, COME ON, he’s locked the basement! How could you not?!), she finds some disturbing things . . .
This book is beautifully written and I understand why people are raving about it but I’m not entirely sure it worked for me. The ominous hints at something being completely not ok in this little community of perfection are done exquisitely well and I love a book filled with secrets but something here was off and after the first few chapters I found it a little bit of a struggle, to be honest. Part of that was the fact that the ARC had messy formatting but when I switched to the audio and began again I found I still had similar issues sticking with the story. The narrator is just this side of monotonous which didn’t help but I see why that choice was made. She comes to life in certain scenes (the friend meetup/luncheon was my favorite) and I always knew who was who but I caught myself drifting and rewinding several times which always signals a book isn’t working to hook me.
You’ll probably still be thinking about this story and putting all the little pieces together once you finish. I didn’t love it but that doesn’t mean I didn’t find parts of it enjoyable. It’s well crafted and if you’re a fan of a little dark mystery with a heavy dose of strangeness, you might want to check it out. Just do yourself a favor and go in completely blind.
I’m not saying much because saying anything about the reveal, even vaguely, can give it away. Sophia is a happy housewife, living in a gorgeous gated community, in her giant beautiful house and she has a group of eclectic neighbor friends. She loves her husband even though she never sees him because he’s so busy working - or something. “I was made for him” is her mantra and their life is perfect.
Until it isn’t.
She can abide by all of the HOA rules which get increasingly weirder as the book goes along but when she starts snooping where she shouldn’t snoop, as one will (I mean, COME ON, he’s locked the basement! How could you not?!), she finds some disturbing things . . .
This book is beautifully written and I understand why people are raving about it but I’m not entirely sure it worked for me. The ominous hints at something being completely not ok in this little community of perfection are done exquisitely well and I love a book filled with secrets but something here was off and after the first few chapters I found it a little bit of a struggle, to be honest. Part of that was the fact that the ARC had messy formatting but when I switched to the audio and began again I found I still had similar issues sticking with the story. The narrator is just this side of monotonous which didn’t help but I see why that choice was made. She comes to life in certain scenes (the friend meetup/luncheon was my favorite) and I always knew who was who but I caught myself drifting and rewinding several times which always signals a book isn’t working to hook me.
You’ll probably still be thinking about this story and putting all the little pieces together once you finish. I didn’t love it but that doesn’t mean I didn’t find parts of it enjoyable. It’s well crafted and if you’re a fan of a little dark mystery with a heavy dose of strangeness, you might want to check it out. Just do yourself a favor and go in completely blind.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gaslighting and Murder