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A review by cassie7e
The Marigold by Andrew F. Sullivan
dark
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
Another sci fi made of gritty desperate vibes in a speculative future, affected by some looming threat. In this book it's both the "wet" and climate change. Books like this seem to revel in making their characters slimy, depressed, cruel or indifferent, at rock bottom, and/or with questionable and morally grey/black pasts. More than necessary. Like the book wants you to hate most of the characters instead of just understand where theyre coming from. This book has so many characters' perspectives packed into a standard length book that it didnt feel as impactful when things happen to them; you don't spend enough time to care about most of them, when the book isn't actively making you (me) hate them. So it feels dystopian but not really like horror. I felt detached. And made the story progress slowly despite being such an average length bc it takes forever to get each character up to speed.
Similar overall feel to The Wanderers (political & pandemic threats), New York 2140 (climate change and corporate ownership), For the Win (virtual reality gaming & union busting), and even Feed (zombies and politics), with varying levels of darkness and unappealing characters. Realism told from individual POV's in the face of an impending doom. (But I connected more with the characters and plots in these examples.)
I much prefer gothic/surreal/horror tones to this gritty realism that's popular right now. (See Mexican Gothic, We Spread, Annihilation, What Moves the Dead, Our Wives Under the Sea.) I think several scenes and aspects of this book would have worked better for me if we switched between short surreal scenes for some characters and kept the grounded realism for others, and wouldve made the book more concise.
Similar overall feel to The Wanderers (political & pandemic threats), New York 2140 (climate change and corporate ownership), For the Win (virtual reality gaming & union busting), and even Feed (zombies and politics), with varying levels of darkness and unappealing characters. Realism told from individual POV's in the face of an impending doom. (But I connected more with the characters and plots in these examples.)
I much prefer gothic/surreal/horror tones to this gritty realism that's popular right now. (See Mexican Gothic, We Spread, Annihilation, What Moves the Dead, Our Wives Under the Sea.) I think several scenes and aspects of this book would have worked better for me if we switched between short surreal scenes for some characters and kept the grounded realism for others, and wouldve made the book more concise.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror and Sexual content