First book I finished in 2024!!! Dare I say the experience of getting ahold of this was as tumultuous as the story itself. Not a single library in a ten-mile radius had this in its database or its shelves, the only version on Amazon is the audiobook, this isn’t even on libro.fm, and when the materials request I sent in went through, I got a worn copy from a completely different library district that has an entire page ripped out. Wonderful. (Anyone who read pages 97-98, please let me know what happens.)

Back to “The Gloaming” itself! I’d describe it as dreamlike, beautifully written and unexpectedly bleak. While the writing style isn’t the most sophisticated, I think the attentiveness to the smaller or more human actions/details of the characters adds some realism to the emotions throughout. Particularly the grief that ripples through the Mara and her family. This is a more introspective than plot-focused novel, but I was still rarely bored, which is extraordinary for me reading litfic lol.

(But like another reviewer, I was disappointed by the lack of actual mermaids—the mermaids on the cover come from the consistent fairy tale references and Pearl’s performing job.)

The parents ended up being my favorites of the cast! That probably comes from them feeling the most developed, though. But their marriage, and Signe taking care of Peter as he’s slowly solidifying, broke me man. They’re very sweet with each other, but also kind of recognizing their shortcomings in how they’ve raised their kids. (I did recently read a play with a healthy hetero couple doomed by the narrative though, maybe I’m just drawing parallels bc I really liked that one, or I’m figuring out a trope I like lmao.) AND THEIR STATUE POSES… I really love the twist of what Peter’s turned out to be. 

The writing, while sometimes flowery, was also ominous. Hinted at pages in advance, and a marker of a character’s emotional decline, the gradual statue transformations were so existential and horrifying to read about. Especially the internal monologues that followed the walks up the cliff (although, they were on-the-nose). 

All the characters are very flawed, though, so it’s kind of hard to love everyone, particularly Islay and Mara: Islay’s resentment turning her downright rude to her sister was annoying to read about, even if I could track most of her thought process. Mara was also very idealistic and, while that’s addressed frequently, I disliked how that prevented her from seeing Pearl as an equal for a lot of the novel. (Should be noted that neither of those qualities are flaws of the writing. I think the only structure-related issue I found with the sisters’ arcs comes from the surface-level deconstructions of fairytale tropes, and repetition of some of the themes.)

The mix of vocabulary was an interesting touch, too! Most of the titles for the chapters are words in Scots, although there’s others in English that are ballet or boxing terms. All of them were carefully chosen depending on the themes of every chapter. I can imagine this being very fun to analyze as a book club.

I gave this 4 and not 5 stars, though, because I still wanted a bit more substance. Not only does the plot meander, but sometimes the characters felt a little flat. I would’ve especially liked to see more from Pearl, although I did like the final moment she had with Signe. The ending twist of the narrator confused me, and maybe as more time goes by it will frustrate me, but I liked the symbolism of the storm. (And I even liked leaving the story open-ended. Most of the book is about challenging simplistic perspectives of people and stories, or avoiding generalizing people as stories. It’s a good way to show that imo.) 

I still think “The Gloaming” is a solid way to start the year, especially after finishing it on a cloudy snowy day. Its narrative will haunt me for a while. Thank you to Clau (radicalqueerreads on Instagram) for recommending this, I truly would have never put it on my radar otherwise!