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aeeklund's reviews
1646 reviews
The Lamb by Lucy Rose
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This one is definitely not going to be for everyone. Should you seek to read it, be sure, based on the synopsis, that you can handle the subject material - this isn't a book to be taken on lightly. I think readers who sit squarely in the center of the Venn diagram of fans of Tender is the Flesh and fans of Nightbitch will understand and appreciate (and devour - no pun intended. okay, some pun intended.) this strange, feral, brambly, hungry little book.
Because this book is all about hunger. It is all about devouring. It is all about the meat and the gore and the gristle and the ligament stretch of adolescence and motherhood and denial and giving in. It is descriptions of nature so beautiful your heart cracks open, it is characters seeking for connection so desperately they can taste it on their tongues, it is buckets of blood in corners as eyes fade to black, and it is all so very, very hungry.
I think Lucy Rose watched Hannibal, looked at the new mothers around her, and said, you men know nothing.
This book does a lot. It does it strangely. It does it wildly. It does it bloodily, and heartbreakingly, and effectively.
And you don't understand the title until the very, very end.
Because this book is all about hunger. It is all about devouring. It is all about the meat and the gore and the gristle and the ligament stretch of adolescence and motherhood and denial and giving in. It is descriptions of nature so beautiful your heart cracks open, it is characters seeking for connection so desperately they can taste it on their tongues, it is buckets of blood in corners as eyes fade to black, and it is all so very, very hungry.
I think Lucy Rose watched Hannibal, looked at the new mothers around her, and said, you men know nothing.
This book does a lot. It does it strangely. It does it wildly. It does it bloodily, and heartbreakingly, and effectively.
And you don't understand the title until the very, very end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, and Murder
Moderate: Bullying, Infidelity, Physical abuse, and Sexual content
Minor: Animal death and Violence
Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I’m surprised I haven’t heard more about this book, considering I was both an English Lit major and a bookseller. Put simply, this is a weird, wandering, sometimes whimsical, at times warning, story of Natalie’s journey from childhood into adulthood as she enters college. But when is growing up ever simple? And who better to approach the bizarre liminality of that space than Shirley Jackson?
I wish I could go back in time and press this book into college-Me’s hands; I could have really used it.
I also think Shirley Jackson did something approaching Dark Academia here, and I want to hear more scholars talk about it, please and thank you!?
I wish I could go back in time and press this book into college-Me’s hands; I could have really used it.
I also think Shirley Jackson did something approaching Dark Academia here, and I want to hear more scholars talk about it, please and thank you!?
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault
The Road Through the Wall by Shirley Jackson
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Toxic friendship, and Classism
Moderate: Child death
The Antidote by Karen Russell
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Excuse me while I walk around for the next several months running into doorframes thinking about this book. Karen Russell is an extraordinary writer, and this novel is worth the wait. I have no idea how she pulled off this alchemy, but she somehow did: she not only managed to write a gorgeous book about the Dust Bowl, a string of brutal murders, a mysterious scarecrow, quantum photographs, basketball, and prairie witches who store your memories, but she also made it say something important about social justice, collective memory, and who exactly tells the story of “history.” I felt every emotion while reading this book. I wanted to start it again as soon as I finished it. If it isn’t on your TBR, add it immediately—I’m calling it now that this book will see major awards traction in 2025. Russell’s previous (and previously only) novel was a finalist for the Pulitzer, and it wouldn’t surprise me if this one followed in that trajectory as well.
A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Murder