Reviews with content warning for Murder - Mary: An Awakening of Terror

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Mary: An Awakening of Terror by Nat Cassidy

185 reviews

selendrea's review

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

He said the thing about cats you have to understand
Is they are predator and prey
They can hunt and pounce and kill
But they're small and light and probably
Delicious
So they take some things very very seriously

I was a little girl when he said this
But when I became a woman in this world
I understood what he meant.

What. A. Book. Mary: An Awakening of Terror was not the book I expected to be, and I'm okay with that. It turned out to be so much more. At its core, this is a novel about the horrors of womanhood, with a slew of genuine terror, humor, and emotional moments thrown in-between. I found the style of writing to be nearly impeccable - the prose flows wonderfully, the metaphors are vivid, and the gore is so deliciously described. Among many horror novels I've read recently, Cassidy's descriptions of body horror felt the most powerful.

The characters here are also standouts. Mary, the titular perimenopausal character is so incredibly unique. She will simultaneously elicit pity, disgust, anger, sadness, and laughter from you. She is easy to hate, but also easy to love, which caused an uncomfortable dissonance in me, but one that I didn't mind sitting with. She is often sweaty, sticky, and unhygienic, but underneath the grime and anger, she had something worth rooting for. I wanted so badly to know how her story ended. Her aunt, Nadine, can receive an honorable mention as well for her sheer wit that makes you love to loathe her.

While I loved the plot overall, this was not a perfect novel. At times, I felt that the book was just a tad too long, and certain parts could have been culled back to allow the pacing to flow a bit better. Additionally, I think Cassidy takes on a few too many directions at once: ghosts, reincarnation, metaphysics, cults, body horror, psychological horror, etc. This mish-mash becomes convoluted near the middle of the book. I think with a more narrow, tighter plot, many readers could focus a bit better.

Regardless, Mary's biggest triumph is in its layers, and the message it doesn't spoon-feed to its reader. So often, I took a breath, put down the book, and had to think about the complexities of my interpretations.
Here are a few of those interpretations:

1. Most obvious, Mary's body horror and her growing disdain for her physical form mirrors (no pun intended) how difficult it can be to feel comfortable in a body that changes and betrays. This is reflected in her struggle to look into mirrors, but also her reclamation of her own nudity at the end of the book. Even as a younger woman, these allegorical moments hit too close to home. I would argue that this theme is most reminiscent of this work's inspiration, Carrie.
2. To me, Damon's voice represents internalized misogyny. Even as women, we may pick up the tendency to belittle and degrade ourselves through societal messaging. That undervoice, Damon's, represents that very real voice that works against a woman's own confidence and self-interest.
3. Damon's victims being relegated to the shadows and forced to be ignored and forgotten reminded me of the idolatry of serial killers in our society. So often, it is the violent man who is pushed into the limelight, while his (often) female victims are rarely given the same consideration. This is also echoed in Eleanor's podcast, which I would argue is a commentary on the exploitative nature of true crime in general. There may also be an underpinning of commentary on worshipping false idols and religious zealotry here, as well.
4. Mary has an opportunity to be idolized herself, but only if she allows Damon to have more power. In other words, Mary's chance to gain social power in the hierarchy and "fit in" comes from her proximity to a man. Again, this reflects real-world cultural systems in which proximity to the hegemonic majority (men) is often the simplest way for women to have control. We can also see this theme in the women of the cult, who are willing to sacrifice victims of their own gender and take part in an unethical system, partially out of the desire for safety.

I had an excellent time dissecting this book overall. If you enjoy a twisting tale with a unique female protagonist, dark humor, and a healthy amount of gore, I think this one is worth giving a shot!

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mad_maeven's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

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the_antler_queen12's review

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5.0

This book is a modern day masterpiece , the way its written made me surprised a man wrote , Mary is infuriating, reliable and monstrous all at the same time that commented on the treatment of midaged women is done so well while the novel still puts you at the edge of your seat espilly the last hundred pages , the books gory it is a horror but it's also beautiful , the books afterwords deserves a mention as it is beautifully written. A must read for women and men of all ages .

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stacym's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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nixie12275's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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gerrakay's review against another edition

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I cannot stand to listen to this any longer. I have not enjoyed this book. The brief glimpses of what could become an interesting plot are completely eclipsed by how unbearable the main character—and the voice with which she is written—is. Mary's narration could be reduced to be, hell, at least a third less dense and it could approach being bearable, but then I'd still have to slog through the Feminism 101 postulations on womanhood. I appreciate the effort in fore-fronting women's issues but I'd appreciate adequate editing more.

Those glimpses of plot we do get imply a very dull one. I read other reviews, including spoilers, and I was correct in assuming I guessed the story line from the start (which frankly I think was intentional since it is so overt, but that would suggest that the journey is the point, and the journey drags because it's so fucking long and the main character sucks so bad that it's just an exercise in misery).

Hate to be a hater but I hate it.

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luvbg1031's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Nancy got thr short end of the stick! Phucked up!

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secondhandreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.0

I'm so torn on this. There were parts of the storytelling and world building that I genuinely enjoyed, I think Nat Cassidy is a good story teller. Especially for the horror genre. But the longer the story went on the more it became clear that this was a man's interpretation of who and what women are. Which is, sort of exactly the kind of perspective the story was clumsily admonishing. The concept is interesting, he should have given the idea over to someone who could have done it justice. Nat Cassidy has no idea what it's like to be an invisible, forgotten, middle aged woman, and it shows incredibly. But he still felt like it was important that this story come out in his voice, in his perspective. Even while admonishing patriarchy he is contributing. He argues with himself in the after word about whether this story was "his to tell" and I'm perfectly comfortable saying, it wasn't. But he told it anyway.

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kshertz's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

This book was incredibly scary and also had very good humor and timing. I really enjoyed the author’s preface talking about his experience with his mother and Steven King and Carrie. I also appreciate the caretaking with the story for Mary and her background. I especially appreciate the afterword where the author does address my only concern with the book which was that he was a male writing about a female who is pre-menopausal having hot flashes. Great book, great idea, and great execution. It would be five stars, except for that I do think it was a little bit too long.

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himpersonal's review

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dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

Mary, you are my hero! I declare this so on behalf of all middle-aged, perimenopausal women living under a careless patriarchy. Nat Cassidy, your momma raised you right! Aside from your author's note, where your devotion to your mom was evident, I can only conclude she taught you well based on how you wrote Mary's transformation.

If I could, I would teach this book as part of a college-level women's studies or feminism class. There is so much symbolism all over the book, including the obvious, like the mirrors, the furies, the ants, the hot flashes, her Loved Ones, etc. I gave Mary and Nat an imaginary chest-bump every time she seethed against being called crazy. And I enjoyed rooting for and watching Mary transform from a nobody (not even she gave herself any consideration) to someone who is on the cusp of extraordinary. Her rage is what drives her, and she didn't even know she had any until she had to use it. I have so much optimism for Mary's future.

The afterword was worth sticking around for. I can't believe Cassidy started this book at age 13. Brilliant. Thank you for speaking on behalf of every woman who has ever been medically gaslit and/or subjected to male doctors who were dismissive of our pain. Thank you for celebrating all the invisible and overlooked women who were put out to pasture. Thank you for being a wonderful ally against the ageism women face, should we be lucky enough to live long enough to have to deal with it.

This was my first Cassidy book. I really look forward to getting to know more of this writer's works.

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