Rhiannon
A stunning, modern take on the Blodeuwedd myth from the Fourth Branch of the Welsh Mabinogi, this gorgeous debut novel is both heartbreaking and horrifying in equal measure. The story of a boy, Rory, and his friend and playmate, the girl Daye, who his sister created from flowers through a sort of modern green witchcraft. The story is set in an amorphous, contemporary Welsh-like setting where studying this kind of crafting is not entirely unusual. The writing, setting and tone is reminiscent of de Lint’s Newford stories and Crowley’s Little, Big – that being enchanting with an underlying gothic darkness.
As Rory grows older, he discovers that keeping Daye ‘alive’ is a complex endeavour that requires specialized knowledge, and he sets out to learn all he can to keep his most precious friend with him forever. And this is where the quiet horror slowly starts to creep up on you. You’re so engrossed with the beauty of the language and the story of this peculiar flower girl that you become uneasy… you start to realize just how awful this situation is as the pure beauty of their childhood relationship also begins to transform and subtly rot at the edges:
“𝑰𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆, 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒂𝒍, 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒑 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒑.”
This is body autonomy horror at its most subtle: skillfully and softly depicted through the beauty of nature and love as it morphs to codependence and ultimately obsession and possession and a fight for true independence and self-determination.
A devastating and haunting debut! I can’t wait to see what this author does next.
My thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Books US for the ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily; all opinions are my own.
Originally posted at www.amazon.ca.
A stunning, modern take on the Blodeuwedd myth from the Fourth Branch of the Welsh Mabinogi, this gorgeous debut novel is both heartbreaking and horrifying in equal measure. The story of a boy, Rory, and his friend and playmate, the girl Daye, who his sister created from flowers through a sort of modern green witchcraft. The story is set in an amorphous, contemporary Welsh-like setting where studying this kind of crafting is not entirely unusual. The writing, setting and tone is reminiscent of de Lint’s Newford stories and Crowley’s Little, Big – that being enchanting with an underlying gothic darkness.
As Rory grows older, he discovers that keeping Daye ‘alive’ is a complex endeavour that requires specialized knowledge, and he sets out to learn all he can to keep his most precious friend with him forever. And this is where the quiet horror slowly starts to creep up on you. You’re so engrossed with the beauty of the language and the story of this peculiar flower girl that you become uneasy… you start to realize just how awful this situation is as the pure beauty of their childhood relationship also begins to transform and subtly rot at the edges:
“𝑰𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆, 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒂𝒍, 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒑 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒑.”
This is body autonomy horror at its most subtle: skillfully and softly depicted through the beauty of nature and love as it morphs to codependence and ultimately obsession and possession and a fight for true independence and self-determination.
A devastating and haunting debut! I can’t wait to see what this author does next.
My thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Books US for the ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily; all opinions are my own.
Originally posted at www.amazon.ca.