A review by marywahlmeierbracciano
Death Valley by Melissa Broder

adventurous challenging funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This autofictional novel is an incredibly beautiful and insightful exploration of (anticipatory) grief, AND it’s funny and horny and messy, as I’ve come to expect from Melissa Broder.  Death Valley features the religious imagery of desert travel, the coexistence of wanting to die and wanting to live, the juxtaposition of being a recovering addict and delirium-induced magical realism, subreddits, and what I like to think of as a transcendental cactussy.  Broder’s narrator grieves her dying father and chronically ill husband in this story about surviving the now.
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