I decided to finalize my rating at 4.5 stars! Although I’m a little bummed I didn’t find this to be a 5 star review, it’s still a book that will stick with me for a while, and likely be one of my favorites for this year.

“Sorrowland” caught me off-guard many pages before its climax and ending(which is polarizing among the readerbase, from what I presume?). It drew me in with its atmosphere, an unforgettable protagonist in the form of Vern, queer representation that prioritized showing the different ways we connect and love instead of labels(which isn’t the central part of the story considering the issues written about, but still pretty cool!!), and a sometimes tumultuous but ultimately heartfelt arc about family. The writing style isn’t something I’d call “subtle”, but its brashness with human and inhuman urges, emotions, and horrors both supernatural and systemic fit the tone of a story like this. 

Vern, oh my goodness! She is a character you cannot help but root for, although she avoids being a perfect protagonist. She’s difficult to trust others, to a degree where she’s sometimes recklessly self-sufficient(or at least trying to be). It’s clear from the get-go that Cainland fucked her up, but it especially shows in decisions she makes within the relationships she has with other characters, whether it be her familial relationship with her kids, or her two romantic/sexual relationships she has with women at different points of the story. But she’s also kind of a badass. She noticeably grows into herself the older she gets, and she demonstrates a fierce love and protection of her kids. But although she learns to adapt, her trauma is not the source of her strength. And that’s something I especially love about her: She’s written in a way that is unabashedly vulnerable. Her support system is small—really in the form of Bridget and Gogo, but necessary for her.

And oh my goodness, Vern’s family!! I love how there was also a found family element with Gogo and Bridget. I loved how their Lakota culture was incorporated into both their respective characters, and the home they helped cultivate with Vern, Howling and Feral. (Also, having Indigenous characters, in addition with Black characters, be at the forefront of a story using its horror elements to criticize America’s systemic, racist abuses was just…very satisfying. Granted, the events in the book are fictional, but you get the gist.) And their characters were very well-written! 

The different setting changes and twists kept me on my toes, so although this isn’t a fast-paced story, I was never bored for long. (But I have to admit, that first woods segment dragged out a bit.) A minor criticism is that although I kind of get the brief shift to Feral and Howling’s POVs for that one part where it’s showing the switch to civilization(which is abrupt for both of the kids, and difficult to adjust to), I still found it jarring and since it didn’t really happen elsewhere in the novel because we stuck with Vern’s POV, was it necessary to have that happen..?

Haunting and Feral brought an unexpected wholesome element to some parts of this story? They truly felt like kids. It was interesting seeing how they perceived some elements, like Vern’s body horror and the outside world, in non-conventional ways due to their upbringing. Also, their bond with their mother was so sweet…especially in those moments where they got especially worried about Vern and would try their best to help her, even if they could only offer so much🥺WAUGH…😭🫶

My feelings on the ending are mixed. Although it kept the darker tone, I thought there were a lot more plot-convenient parts, and there were slightly more sci-fi elements than I was expecting to be in a horror novel like this?? But because I absolutely loved the rest of the novel, I’ll probably gloss over a chunk of the “Kingdom Animalia” parts, lol.

Overall though this was a BANGER please go read it for the love of glob