A review by ristretto
Death Valley by Melissa Broder

challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Death Valley is a bizarre, darkly humorous read, a bit meta, sad and also hopeful. It feels like it came from a very personal and vulnerable place from the writer and I wonder if it’s not somewhat autobiographical. 

In this story our unnamed protagonist takes a trip to a Best Western in the dessert to ostensibly work on her novel but is also avoiding the anticipatory grief of her fathers death and feelings of guilt over her husband’s chronic illness. She hikes on a trail which leads to an enormous cactus which may or may not really exist and eventually ends up on a surreal dessert survival journey with talking rocks, “pee canon”, and teen bunnies while coming to terms with her feelings toward death and mortality. I really enjoyed it and the relationship between the father and daughter and their “language of love” felt really poignant and had me tearing up. I love Melissa Broders writing and this was no exception.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.