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A review by shannen_m
Perfectly Preventable Deaths by Deirdre Sullivan
5.0
This book came into my house and my dreams and said "I'm basically a novelisation of the moodboard of all your favourite things, you love me," and I said "I do, I do love you."
The trajectory of it felt like a growing thing - it got deeper and deeper as it went on, the magic roots curled up, got stronger. It's a slow slide into something ancient and unspeakably cool. The balance was there though, every time it delved into the speculative elements there's an abrupt tug back to the mundane - something funny or aggressively normal - but any time you could be fooled into thinking it was a contemp fic YA fish out of water story, you turn the corner into a crow's eye, or you find a fistful of salt in your pocket. It's designed to keep you unsteady, but in a way that gave an overall impression of balance. It's gorgeous.
The plant chapter headings were a delightful touch, the Dryrish humour is so strong and I liked how it was spread equally between dialogue and narration, it just made everything so cohesive and authentic. Maddy spending the whole book ripping the absolute piss out of Lon was a highlight - there aren't enough books for YA audiences where the carefully curated mysterious older boy gets exposed like this, where his lingering at the school and single minded focus is shown to be as predatory as it is. Catlin's absorption was such an understated horror element but it really hits hard, how easily it stands up without the magic, perfectly symmetrical along the fold line of what is possible and what is imagined.
I love my queer witch child, she's brilliant.
It was dark, and deep, brutally feminine - loved it. Loved it, loved it, loved it.
The trajectory of it felt like a growing thing - it got deeper and deeper as it went on, the magic roots curled up, got stronger. It's a slow slide into something ancient and unspeakably cool. The balance was there though, every time it delved into the speculative elements there's an abrupt tug back to the mundane - something funny or aggressively normal - but any time you could be fooled into thinking it was a contemp fic YA fish out of water story, you turn the corner into a crow's eye, or you find a fistful of salt in your pocket. It's designed to keep you unsteady, but in a way that gave an overall impression of balance. It's gorgeous.
The plant chapter headings were a delightful touch, the Dryrish humour is so strong and I liked how it was spread equally between dialogue and narration, it just made everything so cohesive and authentic. Maddy spending the whole book ripping the absolute piss out of Lon was a highlight - there aren't enough books for YA audiences where the carefully curated mysterious older boy gets exposed like this, where his lingering at the school and single minded focus is shown to be as predatory as it is. Catlin's absorption was such an understated horror element but it really hits hard, how easily it stands up without the magic, perfectly symmetrical along the fold line of what is possible and what is imagined.
I love my queer witch child, she's brilliant.
It was dark, and deep, brutally feminine - loved it. Loved it, loved it, loved it.