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Body horror \o/
Do I even know what I want to say???? I read this in pretty much one sitting. The writing captured my attention, for the most part, and I found it interesting how Ballard established Gia as a character--her routines, her focus, her struggles. This wasn't a long book, yet Gia was a fully realized character with an engrossing arc that was equal parts terrifying and, at the end, satisfying.
I did have some issues with the more descriptive part of her routines and difficulties, even more so at the beginning, but as the plot shifted directions? Things got more interesting, personally. Even as the true horror of it all made itself apparent.
Was it difficult to read at times? Yes. Most of the novel was a descent into Gia losing her sense of self through the situation she was in. The body horror elements were very well written as that theme was explored: how imposed perspectives and trauma can change a person and leave their mark, and what a person is able to and does when they accept that they're not the same as they were before. Sometimes, acts of violence can be powerful in taking your agency and autonomy back. I think Ballard did a good job with this here, especially towards the final chapters, even as it went fully gore \o/
Do I even know what I want to say???? I read this in pretty much one sitting. The writing captured my attention, for the most part, and I found it interesting how Ballard established Gia as a character--her routines, her focus, her struggles. This wasn't a long book, yet Gia was a fully realized character with an engrossing arc that was equal parts terrifying and, at the end, satisfying.
I did have some issues with the more descriptive part of her routines and difficulties, even more so at the beginning, but as the plot shifted directions? Things got more interesting, personally. Even as the true horror of it all made itself apparent.
Was it difficult to read at times? Yes. Most of the novel was a descent into Gia losing her sense of self through the situation she was in. The body horror elements were very well written as that theme was explored: how imposed perspectives and trauma can change a person and leave their mark, and what a person is able to and does when they accept that they're not the same as they were before. Sometimes, acts of violence can be powerful in taking your agency and autonomy back. I think Ballard did a good job with this here, especially towards the final chapters, even as it went fully gore \o/