Syndrie

"Wife Shaped Bodies" read like a mashup of body horror fever dream and social commentary, and it was absolutely fascinating.

In a world where "normal" women no longer exist, a new breed of women — who are really more mushroom than woman at this point — has taken their place. But these women do not get to live normal lives as their main purpose is just to be wives for their husbands. They're there to keep the men company as well as provide new daughters to help continue the cycle. This novel mainly follows the story of Nicole, an extremely sheltered woman who has just now reached the age where she is to be wed to her husband.

Cranehill's prose is descriptive, evocative, and unsettling. This wasn't just a novel I could visualize in my mind's eye, but it's one that I could almost feel, smell, and even taste. The detailed descriptions of the women's fungi covered bodies really cemented just how unnatural their existence was while also giving off the sense of both wonder and disgust.

This is also a novel that feels more like an experience instead of simply a story. While we do have a plot that touches on themes of oppression and gender inequality, a lot of the story is used just broadcasting Nicole's inner thoughts and feelings. The novel is written in first person so we get an intimate insight into Nicole's emotions, thoughts, and physical senses. So while the plot is important to set the scene of the novel, the real story is getting to watch Nicole grow and see how her experiences shape her own personality and her relationships with others.

If you're interested in stories that are a bit weird or off kilter, and the blurb sounds interesting to you, then I highly recommend you pick up a copy of "Wife Shaped Bodies" for yourself. It's quite a unique read and I don't think a review will really be able to properly convey the experience — you really just need to read it for yourself to understand!

(Thank you to Saga Press for providing me with an advance review copy for free via NetGalley! I am leaving this review voluntarily and all opinions are my own.)

This book has everything I want from a fairy tale retelling — it keeps just enough of the source material to have some familiarity while breathing new life into the tale with new plot lines and characters. "Lady Tremaine" is not the magical and hopeful love-at-first-sight Cinderella story that many of us grew up on, instead it's a full revamp from the perspective of the (not-so-evil) stepmother that treads a darker and drearier path. This is no longer a story about one girl searching for her happily ever after. Now it's a story of a mother doing everything she can, in the face of many setbacks, to make sure her family is properly taken care of.

I've always been a fan of darker rewrites of fairy tales, but I'd have to say "Lady Tremaine" is the best one I've read to date. The decision to write it in the stepmother's perspective was absolutely the right choice and really makes it stand out in the crowd of other retellings that tend to keep the princess as the main focus. It also provides such a unique nuance to the story that would've been much more difficult (if not impossible) to tell if it has been from one of the daughter's, or stepdaughter's, perspectives instead.

Hochhauser's prose is smooth, appropriately detailed, and enjoyable to read. She also did a great job on the pacing with the story never feeling too rushed nor too slow. I'm especially impressed to learn this is her debut novel, because it reads as if it was done by a well-seasoned writer! I would absolutely recommend this book to anybody who's even a little bit interested in it, and I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for any future works from Rachel Hochhauser.

(Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing an advance review copy for free via NetGalley! I am leaving this review voluntarily and all opinions are my own.)

This collection starts off with a foreword written by Jewelle Gomez where she explains her feelings about Le Fanu's sapphic vampire novella "Carmilla" and how it partially inspired her to write her own version with the short story "Caramelle." Gomez's insight was very interesting — I especially enjoyed her takes on both the positives and negatives of "Carmilla" — and really helped me see that these two stories are connected by a little more than just lesbian vampires.

The first story you'll read here is Gomez's "Caramelle" (originally published in 2011), which is about a girl and her father who escaped from slavery themselves and now work as part of the Underground Railroad to help other African Americans escape as well. One night their newest refugees are a mother and daughter pair, who seem largely normal aside from the fact that they sleep during the day and only awaken at night.

Although it is a rather short story, "Caramelle" managed to catch my attention quickly and kept hold of it throughout. The prose was smooth and showed you exactly what you needed to know without wasting time on unimportant matters. And even though the relationship between Elisabeth and Caramelle developed very quickly, it still felt natural to the story and didn't really feel rushed. It's also quite tame as far as vampire stories go (dare I say we're treading on wholesome cottagecore vibes with this one?), which was a nice change of pace for me. So even though it is rather short, it's still a satisfying read and I'd definitely recommend it to those who might be looking to get a quick vampire fix in their day!

The other story in this collection is "Carmilla" — a novella that was originally published way back in 1872 that also served as a large inspiration for Bram Stoker's "Dracula" (which was published a whole twenty-five years later in 1897). This is a story about a girl named Laura who lives a rather secluded life with her father and their servants in an old Austrian castle. Due to a carriage accident occurring right outside Laura's home, a girl named Carmilla is rather suddenly left under the care of the family. Amidst strange happenings in the nearby towns involving people unexpectedly dropping dead from an unknown illness, Laura and Carmilla develop a strong friendship that ends up evolving into Carmilla showing romantic advances towards Laura.

Like most of the old classics, "Carmilla" is filled with rather flowery prose and it may be a bit daunting to people who are not used to that style. I myself am not the biggest fan of this style of prose, but I think this was one that was easier to read overall — although the fact that it was a lesbian vampire story did make it feel more worth the effort! Overall it has an interesting plot and I really enjoyed how we have a dual mystery where the characters are trying to figure out Carmilla's oddities while also wondering about the unexplained deaths going on around them.

If you're interested in sapphic vampire literature, and you've either never read either story before or only have read one of them, then I highly recommend picking "Caramelle & Carmilla" up! And honestly even if you've read both before, and enjoyed them, maybe this would still be worth picking up just for Gomez's rather insightful foreword at the beginning.

(Thank you to Aunt Lute Books for providing me with an advance review copy for free via NetGalley! I am leaving this review voluntarily and all opinions are my own.)

When I first read the synopsis for this one I didn't think it would really be suited to my tastes, but I was intrigued still — fathers of a mixed race gay couple coming together to avenge their sons is, in a twisted way, a bit heartwarming after all. Seeing the raving reviews from other readers, as well as really enjoying the last Cosby book I read ("All the Sinners Bleed") made me actually give "Razorblade Tears" a shot though.

Turns out I know myself quite well, because this one didn't wow me the same way it has for other readers.

Objectively speaking, this is a good book — it's fast paced, action packed, and there's never a dull moment. I'd say it reads like a box office hit buddy cop movie, except instead of cops the buddies are ex-cons who are hellbent on getting revenge for the murder of their sons. It's also a story about guilt, grief, acceptance, and it definitely does not shy away from addressing racism and homophobia head on as well. There are some pretty powerful statements made by various characters throughout, and it was nice to see the fathers both begin to accept their sons for who they were, even if it was a little too late. But I found myself skimming through all the gang shootouts and other action bits because I was not personally as interested in those scenes as I was in the actual character development happening in-between.

So if you're a fan of action stories, then you'll probably love this book and I'd highly recommend you give it a chance. But for those who aren't as into the action/revenge stuff, then maybe skip this one and try one of Cosby's other books because he is an excellent writer who knows how to craft a story.