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jamiee_f's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
My pitch for this book is: Mary is having a shitty time. She's having hot flashes, nightmares, fainting spells, and whenever she looks at a woman, she envisions their flesh melting off. The doctor writes it off as perimenopause, but then Mary also gets fired, finds out her rent is doubling, and her bitchy aunt is asking her to come care for her while she dies from emphysema. With no further prospects, Mary packs up her collection of ceramic 'loved ones' and returns to her childhood home, where her aunt raised her after her parents perished in a fire.
Meek Mary things thinks are going to suck a regular amount when she gets to her aunt's house, but then she goes to take a shower and the ghost of a dead and bloodied woman is in the shower. She freaks out and hits her head, and our story really begins.
Mary starts to have flashes of a darker voice inside her, and begins losing time. She starts to reconsider things in her life, her childhood bullies, her relationship with her aunt. She befriends a peppy teenager who is obsessed with true crime, and confides in her that she thinks she might be possessed by the ghost of one of the serial killer's victims. Her new teenage sidekick leans in to this, and helps Mary research. While this is happening...a few people turn up dead or missing! Mary starts to think she might not be the reincarnation of one of the victims, but perhaps of the serial killer himself. She explores this angle and finds she was born the day the serial killer was killed by police 50 years ago.
Once she puts this together, she falls into an undercover religious cult that is obsessed with said killer and makes sacrifices to him annually. Mary is able to 'talk' to the killer inside her, who encourages her to torture and kill the sacrifices. However, the men in town think it's absurd the killer would be reincarnated into a woman, and put her through a series of challenges to try to 'prove' it's really him. This is met with various levels of success, but ultimately the powerful town doctor/mayor/cult leader takes Mary to the desert to kill her.
While Mary is melting away in the desert, she connects with the spirits of the dead women she has been seeing. She encourages them to free themselves by removing the bloody cloth covering their faces, and by acknowledging the ghosts, she gives them power. The bathtub ghost is able to free Mary, and they trek back into town to set things straight.
Mary ends up confronting the killer within her, eviscerating him and exorcising him from her, while building up the power of her dead woman ghost army. They wreak havoc on the town leaders, and it is a bloodbath. Mary's teenage sidekick, it turns out, has been planning to murder Mary this whole time! The two struggle and ultimately have a bloody battle. In the end, Mary gets away, sneaking away before the cops are called, having self actualized and literally cut down the patriarchy.
The book ends with neighboring townspeople showing up for an easter egg hunt, and finding the mansion/hospital covered in blood and gore. The sweet nurse who tried to befriend Mary is found wandering the secret passageways with a missing boy and ends up shot by an overzealous cop, who went on to become famous for "solving" the case of the easter massacre. Mary goes on to live peacefully in New York again, with her army of lady ghosts doling out justice as they see fit.
I listened to the audiobook and it had a thoughtful note from the author before the book, and at the end, which made me appreciate the story all the more. The author is clear that he was deeply and profoundly inspired by his mother and the book Carrie, and has been working on a book like this for most of his life. I absolutely loved it, and strongly recommend listening to/reading the author's context as well.
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body shaming, Drug use, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
battlebornbri's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Pinning the massacre on the only POC in the whole book, who is also the only decent person in the book, is an awful way for this to go. Just awful especially coming from a white man.
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
hauntedantiqueshop's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Body shaming, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Dysphoria
Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Racism, Rape, and Sexual assault
we need a tw tag for cults!ellysiap's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Blood, and Murder
augustcarter's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It’s also, frankly, a genius book. Mary is a character that is so easy to hate and so easy to sympathize with at the same time. I found myself going back and forth with every page turn. The plot twists were so well done. There is a twist that you catch on with, and I think you’re meant to, but then there’s another that blows you out of the damn water, and it still makes sense! It makes perfect sense! It makes you go “goddammit, of course!”
A 2024 favorite so far. Read this book.
Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, and Murder
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
ncastro098's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Rape and Gaslighting
Minor: Animal death
zankzank's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder
brea's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
_meeg's review
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
jnk7's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
But please, don't make the same mistake as me. Do not read the afterword.
And DEFINITELY check content warnings!
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Torture, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Confinement, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, and Sexual harassment