I loved this. It’s a bizarre and darkly comedic story about an introverted teacher facing off against an invasive MLM neighbor. The ending left questions unanswered, but I was okay with the levels of that. It reminded me a little of Bloom by Delilah S Dawson (similar vibes, diff plots). 

 

Energy: Strange. Charming. Farcical.

 

🐩 Tail Wags: So easy to imagine. The quirky characters and their interactions. Relatable main character (Harriet). Unhinged bizarro vibes and randomness. The humour. The MLM and stalky character conundrums. 

 

Scene: 🇺🇸 🛳️ Set in Bentwood, Ohio, USA and on cruise ship departing from Miami.

Perspective: An introverted elementary gifted schoolteacher starting a new job in a new town. A pushy salesperson worms their way in to their life and things start to get weird from there. 

Timeline: Current (2010s or 2020s). Linear

🔥 Fuel: The strangeness of so many of the characters in the town and the town itself. The MLM situation. What is their angle? Why is Harriet feeling drawn to them? 

📖 Cred: Suspended disbelief surrealism

 

Tea pouring. Musty cabin. Ice cubes clinking. Aggressive door knocking. Fresh sharpened pencils. Cruise ship horn. Helicopter blades. Farmer’s market. Garlic bulbs. 

 

Content Heads-Up: Depressive episodes. Death (overdose). Forced institutionalization (psychiatric). Psychosis, paranoid symptoms. Body horror, gore, body fluids. Murder. Loss of parent (as child; brief).

 

Rep: American. Cis. Lesbian. Hetero. Pale and ambiguous skin tones.  

 

📚 Format: Library Digital

 

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