abbie_'s Reviews (1.79k)

I bought this book specifically to read on holiday because I wanted something messy and dramatic and the reviews I’d seen for Little Rot promised just that. Let me tell you, the reviews did not lie, I was ADDICTED to this book from the first page. It’s fast and ferocious and cruel and corrupt. All the action takes place over one weekend, fuelled by sex and violence, with the five main characters barrelling into one another’s lives often with tragic consequence. It’s a far cry from the other stuff I’ve read from Emezi, I love that they don’t feel restricted to one genre and are clearly having a whale of a time exploring all sorts of writing. 

This book goes to some very dark places, so expect a disturbing but addictive and intense read. 

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my free digital ARC of this one! I liked the author’s first novel translated to English (This World Does Not Belong to Us) but remember finding it a bit confusing and opaque at times. Unfortunately, Freire’s second offering in English translation takes that opaqueness to another level. The premise really drew me in - Mildred is a girl wronged by her village, and so curses it after her death. But then all the chapters deviate from Mildred to the townsfolk and the aftermath of the curse, and all the different POVs make it feel too disjointed. I’m also sad to say that somehow a violent curse felt quite dull. It took me over a week to read this tiny book, which is indicative of how unmotivated I was to pick it up. 

I did love the collage art at the start of every chapter!

Thanks to the publisher for my free digital ARC of this one!

Blood on her Tongue is NASTY, icky, made me cringe in disgust multiple times, in short quite an excellent horror novel that I’d definitely recommend if you’re looking for some gory historical horror!

It follows two twins, Sarah and Lucy, as Sarah falls ill after the discovery of a bog woman on her husband’s estate. Already burdened with a heavy history of poor mental health, Sarah’s doctor calls Lucy to the house in the hope it might make aid recovery. But Lucy finds Sarah quite different. I absolutely loved the concept of a vampiric, parasitic tick - just so gross and van Veen explores the concept marvellously.

It also has a touch of the sapphic too, which is always welcome in my book! I enjoyed the commentary around women’s mental health and asylums in the 1800s - a horror show in itself. I also liked the twin aspect, and how far we’d go to protect those we hold closest - even if they aren’t exactly as they used to be.

My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my free digital ARC!

Exit Management by Naomi Booth meets Paradise Rot or any other drippy, mouldy, nasty little horror book you’ve read recently. I really liked this one a lot, it kept me hooked, played on my own anxieties, and felt like a modern horror novel for the renters’ age. I liked the way Lanigan played with very mundane, real fears like dodgy neighbours, uncaring landlords, mould, and merged them with a tinge of the supernatural. It results in a novel that’s unpleasant to read at times, which is the intended goal.

The ending let the book down as a whole for me. There’s an awful scene with a dog that made me too sad - please leave your dogs out of the horror 😭 The tension had been ramped up all the way through, like a balloon overfilled with air, and I was expecting something more akin to a pop, but instead it was like all the air just slowly leaked out.

I’d say the rest of the book is still strong enough that I’d recommend it, but yes, I did want something else from the ending. 

It took me a little while to warm up to this book, it’s definitely a slower paced book which takes its time exploring complex family dynamics. I always really like it when we get to see the same event from different people’s perspectives, so I was glad that after Jenry’s section we cycled through other characters because honestly, even though he’s probably the central focus, he was not my favourite at all.

It manages to avoid becoming repetitive, as although some points do intersect, it’s not exactly the same sequence of events hashed out from someone else’s POV. It’s layered and delicate, like a web which is often further convoluted by the fact that these characters and families do enjoy keeping a secret or two 👀

The Other Mother discusses themes of motherhood - what makes a mother? Blood? Nurture? - alcoholism, homophobia and ambition. Although the parts addressing Marisa’s parents, who refuse to accept their daughter’s lesbianism, were heavy, I also felt somewhat detached from it. Like it didn’t quite manage the emotional impact it had intended for me.

Overall a decent read, but lacking a little something and sometimes too slow paced. 

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my free digital ARC of this one!

I was hooked by the premise of this book - international marriage agency meets a scientist trying to save endangered snails, all set against the current invasion of Ukraine and with glimmers of metadfiction. I mean, if you’re looking for something unique, Maria Reva’s got you. There’s a lot of talk about humour as a coping mechanism in this book, not making light of the situation in Ukraine of course, but a ‘laugh or we’ll cry’. I loved the way the author slipped in some little meta sections, talking about the dissonance she feels living and working away from Ukraine at a time where the country is under attack. Hearing devastating news from your home country, only to go to a dinner party and socialise with people for whom it may well not be happening at all. How does one persevere in such a messed up limbo?

It’s a hugely readable novel, the pace barely falters, and it runs the gamut of emotions from hilarity, futility, desperation, devastation. Definitely be on the lookout for this one when it comes out in July!

Read this one for Queer Your Year 2025 (trans protagonist over 40 and set in the future), and it was v weird, trippy to ponder, and I mostly dug it but also found myself drifting at times. The titular ‘Seep’ is an alien entity which comes to earth and imbues everyone with a sort of hive mind. People become aware of the ridiculousness of modern society, doing away with money, greed, conflict. Everyone just sort of vibes now - except for the communes where contact with the Seep is forbidden. I actually wish more of these communes had been explored more, but the story focuses on Trina, a trans woman who’s coming to terms with her wife deciding to end their 25 year marriage and become a baby again - made possible with the seep.

The worldbuilding that’s contained within this slim novella is very impressive. Nothing’s over explained nor are you left totally clueless as to how the seep works. Given it’s more of a character driven novel, I wanted a little more from Trina. I dunno, I just felt like by the end of the book I wasn’t going to particularly miss her.

Philosophical and melancholy with a chill alien invasion. 

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my free digital ARC of this short story collection! I don’t think I have a single bad thing to say about it, which for some reason always makes it 10 x more difficult for me to write a review. I devoured each and every one of these stories, which range from contemporary topics to wild speculative/magical realism vibes. Radojevic, a Brazilian-Montenegrin author, pulls off every genre like a pro, and most of these stories centre women’s issues.

There’s barely a contemporary issue left unturned with these pages - childcare for working mothers, safety at night, capitalism, femicide, internet harassment, ageing - but nothing feels shoe-horned in and there’s often a playful, mischievous energy about them (talking clitorises anyone?). Radojevic captures the myriad of experiences women live through each day unnervingly well, some of these stories are seriously unsettling.

Some of my favourites were Woman on the Internet, where a mother exacts revenge on the vile men who doxxed her daughter, How To Be Good and Love Yourself, which lays out in excruciating detail how much of women’s lives is spent concerned about our bodies, Hospitality, a genuinely unpleasant reading experience that was so necessary about workplace safety. I could honestly list about a dozen more (there are 30!), just a brilliant collection that I’d highly recommend!

I was liking this book a lot (or I suppose, it was making me feel a lot of emotions, it’s not an enjoyable book, very graphic depictions of childhood abuse), but then towards the end

it sort of pivots towards positing the main character’s sexuality as a result of her childhood abuse?? The idea of people ‘choosing’ to be gay because of abuse is a harmful one, and it left a bad taste in my mouth.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my free digital ARC!

I really enjoyed this book, translated from the Swedish and apparently with a TV adaptation on the way - which I think would be very powerful! It centres a group of people struggling to fit into fast-paced modern life, deciding to fend for themselves in a communal house in the countryside. Emelie is suffering burnout, and to recharge heads to the countryside where she stumbles across the colony, unofficially lead by the charismatic Sara.

The feelings Norlin evokes with her writing verge are truly discomfiting. She perfectly and agonisingly captures the stress and never-ending whirlwind of every day life in a world lived mostly online. I loved the way each character’s background was explored at their own pace, little vignettes that really make you feel like you know them, understand them - a bit scary how much I empathised with some of them and could genuinely see why they’d want to live in a commune verging on a cult 👀

Norlin tackles difficult topics with a deft hand - nothing is sugarcoated, but the horror of some the characters’ lives doesn’t feel gratuitous. Considering it’s 400 pages and dealing with heavy subjects, I felt like I flew through this. It’s addictive and readable, very good storytelling and character building.