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kov 's review for:
Mary: An Awakening of Terror
by Nat Cassidy
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Lemme start with: PLEEEEEASE check your trigger warnings. As with all books, especially horror novels, oml, check your trigger warnings.
This book was gross. It was vulgar, descriptive, and direct. There wasn't a lot of poetic dancing around very visceral scenes. But it's also so important. Despite the gore and the death and the general horror of it all, this is a book about mysogyny. Sometimes it's subtle, sometimes it's overt. But it's about mysogyny - the fear of women's bodily processes, the erasure of women past a certain age. The damning of aging women. The belittling and devaluing of women past the age of 45. The general distaste and negativity for and towards women suffering from mental health crisises that are not so easily explained away as "anxiety". Examples of how mysogyny manifests in women, and children after being raised in a patriarchal society. There is so much important commentary and light shining on this topic. There are even tasteful, but important touches on how these plights are amplified if you happen to be a woman of color.
I went in to this one skeptical knowing this was written by a man, but I have never been more delighted to be proven wrong. In fact, I think there's almost more novelty because a man is the one shining the metaphorical spotlight on these issues that, in his words: "our culture avoids with an effort so concerted, it boarders on panic." I have a great respect for Nat Cassidy for this. He did his research and clearly listened to the women in his life when they recounted their experiences navigating the world.
The narrative harkens back to Stephen King. The foreword makes mention of great inspiration being taken from "Carrie", and that certainly came through, but I also felt like I was sitting in the mind of Annie Wilkes from "Misery" at times. The discomfort of witnessing this woman's brain was immense. There was so much sadness, so much unease. Her inner monologue spanned from disorienting to depressing to blatantly maddening at times - the range of emotions that the author was able to illicit out of me is amazing. And the mirroring tone of the narrative to King is honestly uncanny. If you're a fan of Stephen King I can't recommend this enough.
It has all the classic elements of horror that have been blended together so perfectly. You've got:ghosts, evisceration, schizophrenia, cults, serial killers, gore, sooooo much death. Crazy, unnerving displays of mental illness. You name it
.
All in all, this was an engaging, enrapturing read. The growth of the character Mary both feels gradual and sudden. The shift in her narrating style throughout the book is equal parts unsettling as it is empowering. I have too many thoughts to be condensed here, but give this a read, sincerely. Just make sure your stomach is ready for some pretty gnarly scenes.
"Who am I?
I am just a story written in present tense.
We all are. We are never finished."
This book was gross. It was vulgar, descriptive, and direct. There wasn't a lot of poetic dancing around very visceral scenes. But it's also so important. Despite the gore and the death and the general horror of it all, this is a book about mysogyny. Sometimes it's subtle, sometimes it's overt. But it's about mysogyny - the fear of women's bodily processes, the erasure of women past a certain age. The damning of aging women. The belittling and devaluing of women past the age of 45. The general distaste and negativity for and towards women suffering from mental health crisises that are not so easily explained away as "anxiety". Examples of how mysogyny manifests in women, and children after being raised in a patriarchal society. There is so much important commentary and light shining on this topic. There are even tasteful, but important touches on how these plights are amplified if you happen to be a woman of color.
I went in to this one skeptical knowing this was written by a man, but I have never been more delighted to be proven wrong. In fact, I think there's almost more novelty because a man is the one shining the metaphorical spotlight on these issues that, in his words: "our culture avoids with an effort so concerted, it boarders on panic." I have a great respect for Nat Cassidy for this. He did his research and clearly listened to the women in his life when they recounted their experiences navigating the world.
The narrative harkens back to Stephen King. The foreword makes mention of great inspiration being taken from "Carrie", and that certainly came through, but I also felt like I was sitting in the mind of Annie Wilkes from "Misery" at times. The discomfort of witnessing this woman's brain was immense. There was so much sadness, so much unease. Her inner monologue spanned from disorienting to depressing to blatantly maddening at times - the range of emotions that the author was able to illicit out of me is amazing. And the mirroring tone of the narrative to King is honestly uncanny. If you're a fan of Stephen King I can't recommend this enough.
It has all the classic elements of horror that have been blended together so perfectly. You've got:
All in all, this was an engaging, enrapturing read. The growth of the character Mary both feels gradual and sudden. The shift in her narrating style throughout the book is equal parts unsettling as it is empowering. I have too many thoughts to be condensed here, but give this a read, sincerely. Just make sure your stomach is ready for some pretty gnarly scenes.
"Who am I?
I am just a story written in present tense.
We all are. We are never finished."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore
Moderate: Sexual violence