Scan barcode
A review by motherhorror
The Fourth Whore by EV Knight
3.0
*cracks knuckles*
Okay, first things first.
Thank you Erin and Raw Dog Screaming Press for accommodating our Night Worms Book Party for this debut release. We strongly believe in supporting indie horror and especially, Women in Indie Horror.
Business aside, let's dive in. *deep breath*
There is a lot going on in this book. It's just over 300 pages but so help me, it reads like so much more. To be honest, it was a bit rich for my taste. I don't love the feeling of having to work hard for reading enjoyment; this book requires some heavy lifting on behalf of the reader. Suspending disbelief because this is high, dark fantasy as much as it is horror but also just managing the cast list and changing narratives. The plot is like shifting sand.
As a retelling of the biblical Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, I loved the concept of a Girl Gang gathering power under the headship of the iconic character, Lilith (legendary succubus). If you're unfamiliar with biblical stories or the mythology of Lilith, readers could find the texturing a bit overwhelming. I know these stories and I was struggling. It's clear very early on, this is a revenge fantasy and a reimagining of a patriarchal-centric mythos flipped on its head to be more honoring towards women. I can certainly appreciate that but was this the right vehicle for all this female empowerment broadcasting? Let me unpack it for you:
As a parallel narrative to Lillith's building her army of "whores" is Kenzie's narrative. Kenzie is a young woman living in the slums of Detroit with her neglectful, problematic, useless caregivers (parents) who live in a constant state of being "cracked out". Kenzie is forced to be street smart and resourceful in any way she can be, including selling her body in exchange for rent. It's pretty grim.
Under the surface layer of all this graphic sex and violence, is the very strong feminist message from the author. I could see everything through E. V. Knight's lens.
Not "whores" but "warriors".
Not sexually immoral but sexually in control, wielding sex as an act of war.
A strong female protagonist and a strong female antagonist.
Neither of them wrong or right in their quest to survive and tell the story of their lives, their way.
It's this reader's opinion that there are two epic storylines competing for importance and one of them should have been given prominence. I was far more interested in Lilith's story and frustrated when the story transitioned back and forth to Kenzie's story. The author enmeshed the two storylines in a technically effective way, but I don't think the author was successful in bringing the reader in and executing well on all the fighting ideas. Conceptually, I love THE FOURTH WHORE. Realistically, it doesn't stick the landing.
Due to the provocative nature of the storyline and the compelling writing, I was determined to hang with this until the end, but this has some issues.
It's not a matter of the author having the writing chops to pull the scale and scope of this tale off but more like the author, maybe, had too much of a voice in this story.
I actually loved the way Knight unflinchingly gave this story some teeth and it's probably going to miss some readers just on some of the more shocking content and descriptive language but seasoned horror fans shouldn't have any problem with that.
I'm curious to see how Knight would handle a less epic, more subtle story and I'm eager to read more of her work.
Okay, first things first.
Thank you Erin and Raw Dog Screaming Press for accommodating our Night Worms Book Party for this debut release. We strongly believe in supporting indie horror and especially, Women in Indie Horror.
Business aside, let's dive in. *deep breath*
There is a lot going on in this book. It's just over 300 pages but so help me, it reads like so much more. To be honest, it was a bit rich for my taste. I don't love the feeling of having to work hard for reading enjoyment; this book requires some heavy lifting on behalf of the reader. Suspending disbelief because this is high, dark fantasy as much as it is horror but also just managing the cast list and changing narratives. The plot is like shifting sand.
As a retelling of the biblical Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, I loved the concept of a Girl Gang gathering power under the headship of the iconic character, Lilith (legendary succubus). If you're unfamiliar with biblical stories or the mythology of Lilith, readers could find the texturing a bit overwhelming. I know these stories and I was struggling. It's clear very early on, this is a revenge fantasy and a reimagining of a patriarchal-centric mythos flipped on its head to be more honoring towards women. I can certainly appreciate that but was this the right vehicle for all this female empowerment broadcasting? Let me unpack it for you:
As a parallel narrative to Lillith's building her army of "whores" is Kenzie's narrative. Kenzie is a young woman living in the slums of Detroit with her neglectful, problematic, useless caregivers (parents) who live in a constant state of being "cracked out". Kenzie is forced to be street smart and resourceful in any way she can be, including selling her body in exchange for rent. It's pretty grim.
Under the surface layer of all this graphic sex and violence, is the very strong feminist message from the author. I could see everything through E. V. Knight's lens.
Not "whores" but "warriors".
Not sexually immoral but sexually in control, wielding sex as an act of war.
A strong female protagonist and a strong female antagonist.
Neither of them wrong or right in their quest to survive and tell the story of their lives, their way.
It's this reader's opinion that there are two epic storylines competing for importance and one of them should have been given prominence. I was far more interested in Lilith's story and frustrated when the story transitioned back and forth to Kenzie's story. The author enmeshed the two storylines in a technically effective way, but I don't think the author was successful in bringing the reader in and executing well on all the fighting ideas. Conceptually, I love THE FOURTH WHORE. Realistically, it doesn't stick the landing.
Due to the provocative nature of the storyline and the compelling writing, I was determined to hang with this until the end, but this has some issues.
It's not a matter of the author having the writing chops to pull the scale and scope of this tale off but more like the author, maybe, had too much of a voice in this story.
I actually loved the way Knight unflinchingly gave this story some teeth and it's probably going to miss some readers just on some of the more shocking content and descriptive language but seasoned horror fans shouldn't have any problem with that.
I'm curious to see how Knight would handle a less epic, more subtle story and I'm eager to read more of her work.