This book is a tough one to review. I enjoyed it, for the most part, but I haven't been in the greatest headspace for the last several weeks, and I feel that I didn't fully enjoy the beautiful intricacies and deeper meanings of The Fifth Wound.

The novel is a visceral and multisensorial reading experience. Mattia brings the reader into her very queer and trans world, which she does by transcending boundaries and conventions of fiction. The book is somehow grounded yet otherworldly in the way the protagonist (also named Aurora) goes through life. We go from prose/poetry to footnotes, or text messages, or photographs, among other media. There's a lot happening in this novel, in the maximalist sense, to the point that it can be a lot to digest. However, the too much-ness of this novel is what makes it so special, in the way it indulges and takes up space in the abstract and reality.

I'll have to revisit this novel when I'm in a better headspace, because I have no doubt I missed a fair number of details.