I'm stunned, baffled, wanting for words, frustrated, enchanted, and utterly obsessed.
Both of these stellar volumes focus on mythos and chimeric storyI'm stunned, baffled, wanting for words, frustrated, enchanted, and utterly obsessed.
Both of these stellar volumes focus on mythos and chimeric storytelling. The stories are all told through the notebook of a ten year old, who draws and writes things as she sees them (and not as they are). She shows us her dreams, myths and paintings that enchant her, stories about friends (living and dead), and historically poignant scenes, and it all blends together into a surrealist cacophony. Most importantly, she retells the stories of others (most prominently Anka), and retelling leads to distortion.
This volume is frustrating. We get a semblance of an answer, sort of, but with a lot of ambiguity. We get an ending that feels rushed, unfinished, and clashes with everything that came previously... But our narrator is profoundly unreliable, prone to magical thinking, in deep grief, and very afraid. And also in love. And very confused. And it's all so much and I couldn't stop turning the pages, even when I was frustrated.
The lore surrounding this book continues to be wild. It went through a "will they wont they" publishing tease for seven years (first announced for a 2017!? release) featuring both missing pages and a lawsuit. I frantically googled and found rumours of a prequel and of unconnected stories contracted to another publisher, but it's all very messy. But it's also the best kind of messy (and calling VC Andrews to mind, tbh).
A nightmarish, ghoulish fever dream sequel to the first volume (which I maintain is a masterpiece). This will be eating at my brain for a long time. Maybe I'll be lucky and there will be a third volume, or a prequel, or or or... 4.5 stars rounded up.
Yeah, I'll say it: my favorite thing is this book.
It's poetic that my 100th book of 2024 may well be my favourite book of the year. I write this revieYeah, I'll say it: my favorite thing is this book.
It's poetic that my 100th book of 2024 may well be my favourite book of the year. I write this review at 1:30am, after finishing this in one sitting. By the halfway mark I knew that I'd stay up late to finish this, and sleep is very low on the priority list now that I've found the sequel on my library's hoopla.
The graphic novel is set up as the notebook of our 10 year old narrator, a young girl who sees (and draws) herself as a wolfman. She lives in a rundown apartment with her mother and brother, goes to the art museum and adores paintings, goes to school and gets mercilessly tormented, goes and visits neighbours who tell her things that they really shouldn't. The last of which is a story about her now-dead neighbor, an orphaned jewish girl growing up in early 20th-century Germany.
This book combines so many things that I love in a story: flawed but fleshed out characters, human tragedy (and misery, and cruelty... what does that say about me...), stunning visual art, dark humour, a precocious child, family secrets, and just... wow. This is part Art Spiegelman (and I'm glad he liked this book), part Lullabies for Little Criminals, and I'm not surprised that Allison Bechdel loved it. And yes, I looked up the lore of this masterpeice and the wikipedia pages for both the book and the author are well worth reading.
I usually read a few high and especially low reviews of a book I finish, because I'm always curious what people didn't like. I'll still do it, but I wanted to write a fully enthusiastic review first because I wanted a record of the gut reaction that this book elicited out of me. This is a genuine masterpiece. 5 stars.
(that said: Be warned that it contains pretty much all mature themes and forms of violence under the sun.)
(Lu en francais mais la revue est ecrite en anglais)
I knew I'd love this, and I did indeed love this.
The book is told from the perspective of an unn(Lu en francais mais la revue est ecrite en anglais)
I knew I'd love this, and I did indeed love this.
The book is told from the perspective of an unnamed narrator, who lives in a large cage with 39 other women. The cage is surrounded by halls patrolled by guards who do not interact with the women other than providing them with food or threatening them with whips. Our narrator is the only child in this setting, and does not remember a time before the cage. The women around her do, but don't see the point of telling her about it.
Until one day, of course, they all leave the cage.
What follows is a bleak story of survival and existential angst. Human life is stripped down to the barest of bones, and an already shaky will to live is put further to the test. Our narrator doesn't have explanations for why her world is the way that it is - and neither do we. We witness all the events of the book through this frustrating, lonely, and claustrophobic perspective.
I don't really know what else to tell you about this book. The word "cyclical" is coming up for me, along with "interrupted cycles". The sense of cycles emerges from mentions of gardening, repeated settings, and our narrators life (in and outside of the cage), but the cycle of humanity, human civilization, human legacy... is starkly interrupted. I think I'm still figuring this book out, but it's one that will stay with me for a long time.
Recommended if you're interested in bleak existential stories, are ok with the mechanics of the world remaining largely unexplained, and want a book that will leave you staring off into space for a long time thinking "what the actual f-". 5 stars, obviously....more
Rouge is the roses from snow white and beauty and the beast. Rouge is the god of the underworld (no, Seth) marking you as you dream of TWhat is Rouge?
Rouge is the roses from snow white and beauty and the beast. Rouge is the god of the underworld (no, Seth) marking you as you dream of Tom Cruise. Rouge is immortality achieved through beauty. Rouge is your regimented twelve step skincare routine. Rouge is a little jellyfish, gently pulsing in an aquarium. Rouge is having beautiful sin - I mean skin, why would I say sin?
In short, this book was great. It lent itself amazingly to audio, as it was a first person narrative that played with language and perception. We were in the mind of Belle, a young Montreal woman with a complicated relationship with her late mother. Both obsessed with beauty and skincare, both serving as each other's bizarre twisted mirrors.
I have a lot of thoughts about this book and look forward to filming my November wrap up and getting some of them out. As a note to self, I want to touch on two complimentary interpretations of Seth. The short version: this book leaves us to make up our minds about what really happens, and that's both fun and frustrating. But it's definitely memorable.
Recommended if you enjoyed Mona Awad's other descents into madness (or just enjoy experiencing narrators lose their gosh darn minds), mixed metaphors, and don't mind repetition in your fiction. 4 very solid stars....more
I was really worried that this would be super boring, but it turned out to be a dark academia pandemic/plague novel.
In a future Oxford, historians caI was really worried that this would be super boring, but it turned out to be a dark academia pandemic/plague novel.
In a future Oxford, historians can time travel, gather data, and come back. Time travel has many rules and technicalities - there's paradox laws to work with, vaccines to take, and calculations to check and recheck and then check again. These are extensively detailed in the book, and I warn that some may find them boring and repetitive.
In fact, a lot about this book could be very grating. In this future Oxford, phones have video chat but aren't portable and no one ever answers them when they need to be answered. And there's pages upon pages of dry British humor, references to a student reading Petrarch when he is in fact Netflix and chilling, and a 12 year old boy who is irritating, eating a gob stopper, and thinks everything is apocalyptic. There's also a choir of American bell ringers and an archaeologist trying to save her flooding dig (if anyone cares!!).
Against this backdrop, our young protagonist, Kevryn, is determined to go back to the early 1300s. It's a risky drop. Historians typically don't travel that far back, and traveling as a woman, alone, is at best suspicious and at worst catastrophic. But she insists, and her chapters are a delight to read. She settles into a small village and finds both allies and enemies. I won't spoil the charming characters for you, but know that there are a few memorable ones (Agnes and Roche especially, like come on) who are worth getting to know.
But Kevryn arrives sick with fever. And the technician who sent her back in time, still in future Oxford, also collapses from a mysterious illness. Disease spreads in parallel in both settings, and a lot of people spend a lot of time being very sick. The descriptions are graphic, so be warned.
The pace of this book allows for such an excellent exploration of themes, characters, archetypes, images, culture... Because of the constant reflection on death and illness, discussion of religion features prominently in this book in a way I found remarkably well done.
I didn't know where else to fit this but: bells. Lots of bells. Agnes' little Christmas bell, the time travel bells, the funeral bells, the American bell choir. Everyone has to ring their own bell. Bells!!!
I can think of so many reasons that this book wouldn't land with people, but I found it near perfect. Through its technicality, repetitiveness, side plots, slow pace, and grotesque descriptions of sickness, the book lived and breathes. In other words: while things occasionally pulled due to being repetitive, this also had everything I could hope for in an epic time travel story.
Highly recommended if you're into slow paced sci fi with great characters, are prepared for a chonker where lots of things happen but in a (possibly frustrating) way, and are looking for a great audiobook experience. I can't wait to read more of Willis. 4.75 on SG rounded up to 5 on GR....more
Does enjoying plots with "`small, intelligent girl who can kill you" basically amount to a power fantasy? Asking for a friend.
I distinctly remember tDoes enjoying plots with "`small, intelligent girl who can kill you" basically amount to a power fantasy? Asking for a friend.
I distinctly remember the first time I saw *that* video of the cordyceps shooting out of the skull of an ant after having piloted it to a perfect location for releasing its spores. It's been a decade since, and I have yet to shake the vice grip of visceral disgust and terror that the concept of mind controling fungi has on me.
So of course, I really enjoyed this horror book about, among other things, mind controlling fungi. I won't spoil the rest, largely because it's such a delight to watch this story unfold. The book was written in tandem with the screenplay, and consequently is action packed, fast paced, and generally has a cinematic feel to it. I do want to add that the scientific/anatomical details were well researched and reminded me of my lab experience but like...in a fun way.
Highly recommended but especially if you enjoy zombie-like creatures who resist their nature, post apocalyptic stories about a ragtag group of survivors, and small girls with great power. 4.5 stars on SG rounded up to 5 on GR....more
I'm a simple woman: if you give me a feminist retelling of a classic story and fill it with quick wit... I will eat it up.
Stone Blind is a retelling I'm a simple woman: if you give me a feminist retelling of a classic story and fill it with quick wit... I will eat it up.
Stone Blind is a retelling of the myth of Perseus, whose Wikipedia page provides a technically-not-innacurate summary of this book:
In Greek mythology, Perseus (US: /ˈpɜːr.si.əs/, UK: /ˈpɜː.sjuːs/; Greek: Περσεύς, translit. Perseús) is the legendary founder of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus and Bellerophon, the greatest Greek hero and slayer of monsters before the days of Heracles.[1] He beheaded the Gorgon Medusa for Polydectes and saved Andromeda from the sea monster Cetus. He was the son of Zeus and the mortal Danaë, as well as the half-brother and great-grandfather of Heracles.
But in our case, Medusa is the titular character. We follow her life, from growing up with her Gorgon sisters up to and beyond the beheading by "that asshole Perseus", and get details about the lives of other women integral to this story: Athena, Danae, Andromeda, and other women wronged by gods and men.
The stylistic choices are brilliant: some chapters are written, in good Greek form, from the perspective of Medusa's snakes and in the tone of a Greek choir. The narrative wit includes interjections from the women scorned and delightfully flips this myth and all its peripheral stories.
Highly recommended if you're looking for a tonally vengeful and entertaining retelling of Greek mythology. The audiobook, narrated by the author, is stellar. 4.5 stars on SG, rounded up to 5 on GR....more
I picked this book up the week that I turned 30 as one of the many audiobooks I listen to on the treadmill, cause thaSo I've started running (again).
I picked this book up the week that I turned 30 as one of the many audiobooks I listen to on the treadmill, cause that's my thing now. And it was exactly what I needed.
This is a series of essays in which Murakami talks about what running means to him, draws parallels with other endeavors (relationships, aging, writing, etc), and meditates on the passage of time and what we do with it.
I've always seen myself as an awkward nerd, so it's odd to now think of myself as an athletic person. Someone who climbs, runs, and even goes through patches of doing nightly yoga. Listening to this book helped me reconcile some of that and also give voice to some of my own feelings about what these individual non-competitive sports for me. And this book kept me motivated to keep moving one foot in front of the other, even when my calves ached, I was a puddle of sweat, and my heart rate broke 160 bpm.
While being a runner helps in appreciating this book, I recommend it to anyone interested in activities that involve being uncomfortable, overcoming their own limitations, and carving aside large chunks of time in ways that may be futile but are nevertheless important. 4.5 stars on SG, rounded down to 4 on GR....more
This is a super strong collection with little to no skips. There are plenty of horrifying moments, from the first story that requires a type of murderThis is a super strong collection with little to no skips. There are plenty of horrifying moments, from the first story that requires a type of murderous (but righteously so) doppelganger through to tales of humans-as-monsters, cursed roads, and the horror of colonization. It's also a great who's who showcase of modern indigenous authors and an excellent reference for further reading.
Since these stories are rooted in oral tradition, I highly recommend the beautifully produced audiobook. Highly recommended if you're into folklore, ghost stories, and great writing. 4.5 on SG rounded up to 5 for GR....more
I won't lie: I found the first quarter of this book extremely boring and drawn out. But once the action picked up...Woah boy. I'll be holding this oneI won't lie: I found the first quarter of this book extremely boring and drawn out. But once the action picked up...Woah boy. I'll be holding this one up as an example of why I don't like to dnf.
This book had everything from body-horror corpses to surreal nightmare masquerades to mythical beasts to ripped out tongues to god complexes. And all the expected elements are also there: (suspicions of and paranoia around) cannibalism, the terror of a vast arctic desert, and more nautical descriptions than I ever thought possible. I had no interest in the Franklin expedition (or any exploratory expeditions tbh) prior to reading this but I had a blast combing through wikipedia to lign up fact (and scientific speculation) with this book's fiction
Recommended if you're looking for a slow-paced historical horror novel that explores the terror of vast, empty, hostile spaces and the evil that men do. 4.5 stars on SG rounded down to 4 on GR....more
This felt like 1984 and handmaid's tale were put in a blender and the horror dial was set to an 11.
Obviously, this book follows Julia and her life inThis felt like 1984 and handmaid's tale were put in a blender and the horror dial was set to an 11.
Obviously, this book follows Julia and her life in Oceania. We revisit familiar characters, and of course Winston Smith, and other concepts that Orwell left us: 2+2=5, room 101, rewriting history, newspeak, telescreens, big brother, etc etc etc. and I wasn't sure if and how the world would be expended beyond that.
And oh boy. This book left me more horrified than many of the horror books I typically read. The bleakness is akin to bleakness in movies like Children of Men and the Japanese movie Kairo (Pulse). The nightmares that Julia has, and are described so vividly, make the Saw movies comparatively tame. I'm using cinematic comparisons because this book is tremendously cinematic. The descriptions of horror linger and extend through every horrific detail. This is especially true of the 80% mark, when Julia is captured and tortured in the ministry of Love and experiences room 101. And what follows may well have broken my brain.
And the themes... oh how I love a good exploration of themes! In the feminist realm, there is a lot about reproductive coercion, maternal bonds, female friendships (and more than friendships), using sexuality to gain power, etc etc etc. but this book focuses most on the tension between Truth and Narrative, things Orwell explored almost a century ago and that continue to feel painfully relevant. The last few moments of this book are absolutely chilling in that regard, and I'll be thinking about this one for a while.
I try to be stingy with giving out five stars, but I can't imagine giving this retelling anything less. Colour me impressed. I'm so glad that the Orwell estate authorized this powerful counter-piece to the classic. Highly recommended if you enjoy female-centric dystopian/speculative fiction, have at least a cursory familiarity with the original book, and have a strong stomach for physical and psychological torture.
With that, I think it's time for my banana. (The mild spoiler here is that an Important Character looks forward to their daily banana)
I only have one question for the author: Brave New World retelling when??...more
I absolutely loved the full-cast audiobook production of this. Like in her other stellar book, the Power, Naomi sHow many good men are there in Sodom?
I absolutely loved the full-cast audiobook production of this. Like in her other stellar book, the Power, Naomi sets this book up to have multiple main characters with intersecting plotlines, and it works beautifully.
I want to write a little summary of this book to get you to read it. But that would be giving so much away. So instead, let me tell you the premise: what if the tech billionaires, the Musks and Zucks of the world, actually did have secret bunkers in New Zealand to wait out the apocalypse? What if online conspiracy theorists are onto something? What if some of the info gets leaked? And what if you've got this "golden ticket" but find it immoral to leave humanity to face its own destruction?
This book is much more than that, but thats a start. Five stars for the complexity of the ideas explored, the joys of shifting between points of view, and the clever allusions to our present existential questions. This novel is very 2023 with blatant allusions to covid. But somehow it manages not to overdo it.
Recommended if you're terrified of the state of the world, rising inequality, the possibility of a worse pandemic, enjoy cults, have fallen into nihilism, worship AIs, etc etc etc. and if you love speculative fiction....more
What I've learned about Cixin Liu's books: there comes a point, usually around the 40% mark, where the writing feels so dazzling and so clever that I What I've learned about Cixin Liu's books: there comes a point, usually around the 40% mark, where the writing feels so dazzling and so clever that I can't help but be completely lost in it.
In book 1, it was the video game and the timestamps. In book 2, it was the wall facers and wall breakers. And here? It was fairytales and the end of the human race. How I love those fairytales.
The series has some shortcomings, and the greatest one for me is the characterization. As in previous books, characters feel more like one dimensional chess pieces rather than like people. This isn't a book or a series written with the intent to make us remember characters, but instead to look at human dynamics as a whole and how different archetypes respond to these surreal situations.
If you'd told me that my big summer reads this year would be a hard sci fi series about humans interacting with alien races featuring astrophysics, military tactics, social engineering, political mutinies, all written like as a sweeping alt-history saga... I would've assured you that that's not my thing. And yet.
The writing is so delicious and accessible, and is delivered beautifully on audiobook. When acquaintances find out I read and ask for sci fi recommendations, I now send them to this series.
Recommended if you liked the others, especially in their exploration of philosophy, physics, and the future of the human race. Many stars....more
I needed a few days to digest this one. Oh my gosh!!!
We have physics. We have philosophy. We have politics. And now we have mind games!!! I love some I needed a few days to digest this one. Oh my gosh!!!
We have physics. We have philosophy. We have politics. And now we have mind games!!! I love some good mind games!! And we go into the future!! Finally!!!! I love the future!!!!!!
(Exclamation marks are necessary when reviewing this series tbh)
It took me a bit of time to get into this one as the first part of the book recapped previous events. HOWEVER. Around the 40% mark onwards I was completely hooked and couldn't stop. I have a great appreciation for morally gray choicest, nihilistic or selfish characters, and all that jazz that the author wove so beautifully against this scifi backdrop.
I don't want to say much about the actual plot because watching it unravel is a treat on itself. That said, if you liked the first book, you should read this one. And I can't wait to read the third.
4.5 stars rounded up. It feels wrong to round down given I'm shouting about this series from the metaphorical rooftops.
Feeling like your brain is fried Constants tweets Unrelenting algorithms Food stripped of nutrition Constant notifications Outrage drives recommendations
Feeling like your brain is fried Constants tweets of genocides Solve it with a 4 day work week But don't forget your snapchat streak
We didn't start the fire.... (Only we did, and it's climate change, and it's literally all tied together).
I hope you enjoyed my little song at least half as much as I enjoyed listening to this book. Both inspiring and terrifying, Johann paints a grim portrait of the 2020s and what's to come. He experiments upon himself with a 3 month detox, talks to scientists studying attention from all perspectives (think nutrition, pollution, ADHD, persuasive technology, economics), and calls on us all for a revolution.
Because when the average adult is distracted every 3 minutes, we can't tackle the actual real issues. We can't find ourselves in a state of flow to enjoy life, connect with others, and reach out creative potentials. We can't think complexly about problems and their multi-faceted solutions. And given the general state of things...that's far from ideal.
And let's not get started on how badly we're screwing up the youths (am I still a fellow youth?). The whole "silicon valley giants don't let their kids near the tech they work on" is a thing for a reason.
Highly recommended, but especially if you are interested in how multiple factors can converge to facilitate the frightening modern phenomenon of extreme inattention, are frustrated with your inability to step away from your phone, are crippled by feelings of unfulfilment, etc etc... And are all right with there not being any immediate easy answers. The audiobook is stellar and I hope you read it soon so that we (and the big collective We) can talk about it.
The vibes: teenage girls and young women in the late 18th century getting up to no good. Sexuality, madness, identity, murder, brothels, and more - alThe vibes: teenage girls and young women in the late 18th century getting up to no good. Sexuality, madness, identity, murder, brothels, and more - all set against a backdrop of class and family struggles in gloomy Montreal.
This story starts off as that of two young women, diametrically opposed and unlikely friends. And then something terrible happens, and their circumstances unfairly dictate their fate. And the fate of those connected to them, because two sides are still not enough to tell the full story. I dont want to spoil this journey for you, so I won't say more, but trust me when I say that this is worth the ride.
If you're into motifs of self and shadow self, dopplegangers, and deceptive appearances... You'll love this. I also really recommend the audiobook narration, which tastefully emphasized different voices and accents in a way that wasn't annoying (a feat in and of itself).
Recommended if you're into complex and morally ambiguous characters, are charmed by theatrical cabaret such as the likes of Emilie Autumn or other Heather O'Neil books, and are not squeamish about the terrible and wonderful things young women are capable of.
Nothing I love more than feeling like a book was written just for me.
Paul Tremblay continues to impress me. Here I thought the Cabin at the End of thNothing I love more than feeling like a book was written just for me.
Paul Tremblay continues to impress me. Here I thought the Cabin at the End of the World was stellar but this??? This!!!!!!!
Full but vague disclosure: religious fanaticism and psychosis are both things I grew up around. The family dynamic described in this book is painfully familiar (and realistic), especially as it's written from the perspective of a confused preteen. Holy guacafreakingmole.
Paul Tremblay also loves allusions. He makes them explicit - why not! The wallpaper in one room is yellow and is clearly referred to as such. Scenes early in the book feel ripped off from the exorcist, and he agrees. He introduces a minor character named Stephen Graham Jones by name, because why the heck not!!!
And of course, we have Merry the cat, Meredith, our childish narrator. If you've read your Shirley Jackson, you know how this story ends.
This book is going to live rent free in my head for a very long time. I want to annotate it for the references and foreshadowing alone because dang. Tremblay, I am buying what you're selling. Bring it on.
This is a five star book for me but probably won't be for everyone. However if you, like me, love using horror to explore painful family dynamics and mental illness, love blending classic and modern allusions, and can't get enough of playful unreliable narrators and stories told in a way that feels both serious and satirical.... Run, don't walk.
Head full of ghosts??? The ghosts live in my head rent free bro. (And yeah, I should probably talk about it in therapy)
Fredrik Backman, especially on audiobook, is a glorious writer.
Backman tells us what will happen before he tells us how it happens. Then he tells it Fredrik Backman, especially on audiobook, is a glorious writer.
Backman tells us what will happen before he tells us how it happens. Then he tells it to us again, from another perspective, with different information. Then again. Again. Again.
The author's gift for writing realistic and flawed characters astounds me. Beartown is no different. This town lives and breathes. Our omniscient narrator weaves us through the turbulent and tumultuous life of several dozen characters, all of which have successes, failures, heartaches, traumas, selfish interests, love, and more and more and more.
This book deals with the incredibly painful topic of character assassination of a survivor of sexual assault. It covers motivations people may have that lead to this lack of compassion, it shows why even those who do feel compassionate won't always say anything, and it presents that isolating hellish desperate existence with rawness and sensitivity. In other words: I had a couple of good cries.
Recommended if you don't think you'll ever enjoy a book about hockey but are interested in the interests of the collective vs interests in the individual, love character-driven plots, and want to spend time in a small frozen town in the woods that puts all its hopes on a handful of teenagers.
Me, in my literary critic voice: ah yes, Frankenstein meets My Sweet Audrina.
While my affections for this book followed a steady slow burn, I admit tMe, in my literary critic voice: ah yes, Frankenstein meets My Sweet Audrina.
While my affections for this book followed a steady slow burn, I admit that I was charmed as of the first page. Check out this incredible first sentence: "Her son dies in a child-sized bed, big enough for him but barel enough to hold her and her husband who cling to the edges, folding themselves small so they fit one on each side of him."
And then soon followed by: "Her son was alive and now he isn't. No thunder, no angels weeping, no cloaked Death, no grace; just his silent body, breathing, and the blunt realization that this is it. How dull, she thinks. She could scream, get on her knees, pull out her hair, curse God. Take me, she could plead while beating her chest with her fist. She won't. She can't rally the drama she once imagined."
(Ok I tricked you into starting the book, no take-backs!)
The child, Santiago, dies in the first pages of the story. But the grieving mother employs the powers of magical realism to keep a part of him alive. Her son was born with one lung, and she takes a piece of that lung and nurtures it (with chicken broth at first but then....larger things). And, so, Monstrillo is born.
The four parts of the story, each narrated by a different character, tell the life of Monstrillo: from a clump of cells to a vicious ball of fur, claws, and teeth, from a creature feasting on small mammals to one that can pass for a human boy. Is he human or monster (Frankenstein, although the parallels don't end there)? Is he Santiago or a crude replacement (My Sweet Audrina)?
This book is filled with meditations on grief, reflections on who children are to their parents, unrequited love (so much unrequited love and pining oh my), and some really weird and twisted performance art. And gore and body horror. If that sounds up your alley...
In sum: this lives in my head rent-free now. Dare I say 5 stars?...more
I'm going through a reading year that somehow includes a lot of groups of women in cages/prisons/panopticonTL;dr: read this is you liked Yellowjackets
I'm going through a reading year that somehow includes a lot of groups of women in cages/prisons/panopticons (this book, I who have never known men, and a night at the circus all come to mid) and...there's no good way to say this: it's been dope.
The Natural Way Of Things follows two teenage girls, who find themselves in a work camp after being drugged and kidnapped from their "normal" lives. There are about a dozen girls in total and very quickly they are dehumanized, treated violently, and given no answers as to their situation. As weeks pass and the reasons for their confinement become clearer, there's an agonizing slowburn and mundaneaity.
But the book truly kicks off in later sections, which is where I knew this would be one of my favorites. What happens when a group of women has been in chains for so long and has nowhere to escape to? What happens when these prisoners are quasi-forgotten and left to fend for themselves? This is all topped up with fever-dream level madness (the doll !!! oh my god the doll), vibes that reminded me of Yellowjackets, and an ambiguous ending.
I expected this book to have a lot of speculative fiction elements, so I was surprised to find out that the book was inspired by a real Australian scandal, where teenage girls of "loose morals" were sent away to "school" in the 60s, to be hidden from society. I'm currently on a Kiki Rockwell kick so, in her words,:
same old energy baby history repeats same old energy baby they're marching through the streets same old energy baby they fear what they don't know same old energy baby, you've burned this way before
Recommended if you enjoyed Yellowjackets and/or I Who Have Never Known Men, enjoyed Holes growing up, and are prepared for some Australian turns of phrase. I expect this to be among my favorite books of the year. 5 stars....more
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