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A review by maria_jean
Grey Dog by Elliott Gish
1.75
1.75 stars because I feel like this book isn't AWFUL but I also can't quite bring myself to give it 2. I know "female rage" is a compelling topic, but it's only compelling if you write it in a compelling way. I am simply not compelled by someone not showering for weeks and abusing children and assaulting/murdering their only friend just because you say it's "female rage." Also, for a book that touches on patriarchal treatment of women quite a bit (although it did strike me as pretty simple and surface-level commentary), the men that perpetuate this patriarchal treatment receive VERY little consequence or pushback compared to the women that the protagonist dislikes (for, in my opinion, very flimsy reasons). The choice to represent the protagonist's liberation from patriarchal oppression through the murder of her woman friend who is another victim of the patriarchy and has by and large done nothing wrong is just... very odd to me and doesn't exactly scream "feminist literature."
There are some beautiful moments of writing in here, but Jesus, this book drags, especially in the first half. This book does NOT need to be nearly 400 pages, and it does nothing to justify that length. The pacing is so disjointed that you wouldn't even think this book is meant to be a Gothic horror in the first half (and even in the second half, I hesitate to consider this book much of a Gothic story at all). I feel like the social commentary and horror elements would've been much more compelling if they were more interwoven and interlinked, but instead, they just feel kinda smushed together. The weird pacing could've been at least improved with some proper Gothic atmosphere, but I didn't really get any of that.
At the end of the day, I feel like I've heard this story before, and I'll hear it again. I do personally feel like the horror formula of "woman suffers mental breakdown" is tired, especially in self-proclaimed feminist stories.
There are some beautiful moments of writing in here, but Jesus, this book drags, especially in the first half. This book does NOT need to be nearly 400 pages, and it does nothing to justify that length. The pacing is so disjointed that you wouldn't even think this book is meant to be a Gothic horror in the first half (and even in the second half, I hesitate to consider this book much of a Gothic story at all). I feel like the social commentary and horror elements would've been much more compelling if they were more interwoven and interlinked, but instead, they just feel kinda smushed together. The weird pacing could've been at least improved with some proper Gothic atmosphere, but I didn't really get any of that.
At the end of the day, I feel like I've heard this story before, and I'll hear it again. I do personally feel like the horror formula of "woman suffers mental breakdown" is tired, especially in self-proclaimed feminist stories.