This was a MASTERFUL retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher!!! This book had everything I never knew I needed: Zombifying fungus; a crossover with Beatrix Potter's actual mycologist aunt (What if The March Hare and Peter Rabbit were the same mad bunny?!?! AHHH!!!); a non-binary protagonist to underscore the message about mis-categorizing someone because we don't even have the concept/language to understand them; a discussion of post-war PTSD and how it "haunts" the brain ("we're all mad here"). This book was SO clever! The metaphors were aptly chosen, like the many eyes of the house, or the hungover feeling of needing to shave one's tongue, all hinting at the hivemind fungus that's infecting the property. The book has a heaping helping of medical who-dunnit in trying to diagnose Madaleine, and another heaping helping of sci-fi horror in the recognition of a symbiotic, sentient lifeform here-to-for uninvestigated on Earth. And in delightfully, traditional Gothic fashion, you're not sure if you can trust the narrator near the end. I am so thankful that the author mentions Mexican Gothic in her acknowledgements, because I was definitely getting that vibe XD. Praaaaise!!! Cannot wait to see what this author does next.

Merged review:

This was a MASTERFUL retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher!!! This book had everything I never knew I needed: Zombifying fungus; a crossover with Beatrix Potter's actual mycologist aunt (What if The March Hare and Peter Rabbit were the same mad bunny?!?! AHHH!!!); a non-binary protagonist to underscore the message about mis-categorizing someone because we don't even have the concept/language to understand them; a discussion of post-war PTSD and how it "haunts" the brain ("we're all mad here"). This book was SO clever! The metaphors were aptly chosen, like the many eyes of the house, or the hungover feeling of needing to shave one's tongue, all hinting at the hivemind fungus that's infecting the property. The book has a heaping helping of medical who-dunnit in trying to diagnose Madaleine, and another heaping helping of sci-fi horror in the recognition of a symbiotic, sentient lifeform here-to-for uninvestigated on Earth. And in delightfully, traditional Gothic fashion, you're not sure if you can trust the narrator near the end. I am so thankful that the author mentions Mexican Gothic in her acknowledgements, because I was definitely getting that vibe XD. Praaaaise!!! Cannot wait to see what this author does next.